New Wind Nation
by Kyogre
Summary: AU Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.
1. Cultivate your hunger

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Title: New Wind Nation ~(新風国)~

Chapter: 1 / Cultivate your hunger

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

Note: Version 2.

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_The wind was picking up again, dragging sheets of sand through the air across the desert. Out of the darkening haze, two shinobi emerged, clad in desert colors, their faces hidden by scarves. Each carried a cloth-wrapped bundle, one larger, one smaller. Treading lightly, they__ hurried to take refuge in the narrow pass through the rock cliff. As they neared the other end, more shinobi stepped out of the shadows._

_"Halt," the leader called._

_Obediently, the two stopped. "North-east outer patrol returning," one identified. "Bringing the trespassers, by order of the Kazekage."_

_A man in the back of the group stepped forward, his arms crossed and face expressionless. "Stand aside," he ordered in a voice used to giving commands - and having them obeyed. _

_"Kazekage-sama," the leader of the guard acknowledged, bowing low. _

_The guards parted as the Kazekage made his way to the patrol, stopping in front of the one carrying the larger burden - a body. As he pulled its shroud aside, long strands of red hair spilled out, wavering in the faint wind. His eyes lingered on the face, though he showed no emotion. 'What a pathetic death,' the Kazekage thought._

_Turning away, he gestured to his men. "Get rid of the body," he commanded. _

_They bowed. With the motion, the smaller bundle in the arms of the second patrolman suddenly moved. The folds of the cloak shifted, revealing a young child, slumbering restlessly. The Kazekage paused, turning back to look at the boy.  
_

_"__Enroll it in the Academy," he __finally declared. Obediently, his men bowed, though they did not understand the strange order.__ Walking away, he added, almost to himself, __"It may be of some use yet."_

_Bowing even lower, the shinobi murmured, "By your will, Kazekage-sama."_

/~/~

'Mom, I finally did it. I'm a shinobi. I have a headband and an ID number, and everything. Today, I'm meeting my new team.'

Looking around the mostly empty street where he had been told to meet, Naruto sighed. 'I think I came a little early though,' he thought sheepishly. He held up one hand and tried to judge the position of the sun – but that was a pretty inexact method, so all he knew was that he had the right hour.

'I hope they didn't tell me the wrong place and time just for kicks,' he thought unhappily. 'Just because I wasn't born here, everyone is always acting like I'm some suspicious outsider and giving a hard time. But I'll show them! I'll become a great shinobi, a legend! So everyone will respect me. They'll all know my name - and your name too!'

Naruto laughed. 'That's right, I will engrave _Uzumaki_ into everyone's heart and into history!'

"Just what are you laughing about, you brat?" an angry voice demanded, startling Naruto out of his thoughts.

He chuckled sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head, and turned to face the speaker – a boy a little older than him, dressed in all black, with intricate designs painted in indigo over his face.

"Hi!" Naruto said brightly, long since used to people eying him oddly when he drifted off and seemed to have silent conversations with thin air. "I'm Naruto! Are you my new teammate?"

The older boy sneered and crossed his arms. "I hope not," he bit out. "A brat like you won't last ten minutes on a real mission… or against _him_…"

Naruto bristled but before he could fight back – 'Just with words, Mom! I know I shouldn't fight with comrades!' – a calm, deep voice cut in. "Naruto, Kankurou," the speaker, an older man in a Suna jounin's uniform, with one half of his face hidden, greeted. "I am Baki, your instructor. This is Gaara, your other teammate."

Kankurou paled visibly under his markings, but Naruto only blinked in surprise and studied the boy Baki gestured toward.

Like everyone in Sunagakure, Naruto knew _about_ Gaara. However, he had never actually _met_ Gaara face to face. Frankly, they had pretty much nothing in common. Naruto was an orphaned foreigner who struggled through the ninja academy and spent all his time training (and talking to his mother's ghost), while Gaara was the feared youngest child of the Kazekage, kept isolated and privately "tutored".

Naruto's first impression of Gaara included three things – 'Mom, he's got hair like yours, all red!', 'He looks really skinny. I wonder if he eats enough,' and 'He sure is pale, for living in a desert.'

(Though no one knew it at the time, this would set the tone for Naruto and Gaara's relationship.)

"Hi!" Naruto waved, smiling. "I'm Naruto. It's cool that we're on the same team. I hope we get along!"

Kankurou and, to a much smaller extent, Baki gave Naruto a look that would have made anyone else doubt their sanity. Gaara looked at him expressionlessly and said, "If you get in my way, I'll kill you."

Letting his flat gaze sweep over his "team", Gaara unceremonially turned around and began to walk away. As soon as he was out of earshot, Kankurou turned on Naruto with a snarl. "Keep your mouth shut or he'll kill us both!" he snapped.

Baki sighed. "Kankurou, that's enough. You're dismissed for today."

The older boy stalked away as well, and Baki turned to study Naruto thoughtfully. "I don't know how aware you are of Gaara's reputation and abilities," he began, "but Gaara is highly volatile and very skilled. He is able to control sand at will and does not hesitate to kill, even among allies. So try to avoid actions that may rile him up."

Naruto nodded absently. He _had_ heard all this before, from people whispering to each other in the streets. 'Kills at will? Mom, it sounds like I might be in a bit of trouble… But it's alright! Don't worry about me. I won't give up or give in, just like you taught me!'

Waiting for a moment longer, Baki continued, "Because of Gaara's unique situation, he will not be training with us. Kankurou is studying Puppet Technique, so most of his training will also be done separately, though I will have him spar with you occasionally…"

"So that means you'll be teaching just me?" Naruto cut in, bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly. "Like individual training? That's great!"

Baki nodded. "Don't get too excited," he cautioned. "We will take missions C-rank and up as a team, but you will be expected to take D-rank missions alone."

Pouting a little, Naruto shrugged. 'Bah. D-rank is just public maintenance, and badly paid too! Of course, with higher rank missions being so rare now, I suppose I should be grateful for any pay at all...'

Then, he grinned, realizing, 'But if I have Gaara on my team, that means we'll get lots of great missions!'

Baki was eying him oddly again. "Naruto," the instructor said seriously, "this is your best chance to request a change of team or even just go back to Academy until the next graduation in six months. Think about it carefully."

"No way!" Naruto declared easily. "I like this team!"

Baki shook his head, but let it go. He privately thought the boy would either run screaming or die after the first mission with Gaara, both outcomes being rather unfortunate. 'Foreigner or not, he was trained as Suna-nin and he has quite a bit of potential. We can't afford to waste that.'

/~/~

Two weeks later, Naruto was on a simple D-rank – patching up a greenhouse that had been damaged by a particularly vicious sandstorm. As always, he was lost in his own thoughts.

'It hasn't been bad. I'm actually pretty happy!' he thought, though some of the cheer was forced. But only a bit. 'Baki-sensei actually taught me a wind technique, though he mostly leaves me to train by myself. But that's because he's really busy. He's actually on the Advisory Council! That's pretty cool, having a councilor as a teacher!'

Carefully sliding a clear panel in place, Naruto straightened and dusted his hands. Suna's academy couldn't afford to produce many graduates, but the instructors took it as a matter of village pride to drill those they had vigorously.

A small shadow passing over him made Naruto look up. The desert hawk circled once, twice, and flew away again. But Naruto had understood the message. 'Look like I need to report to the admin building,' he thought. 'I wonder why?'

Seeing Kankurou waiting there as well, Naruto could guess the reason. He grinned excitedly as Gaara and Baki approached. "We have been given a C-rank mission," Baki said without preamble. "It's very straight-forward. A band of bandits have been attacking caravans heading to Bird Country. We are to accompany the next caravan and dispatch the bandits. We leave in fifteen minutes."

Saluting sharply, Naruto rushed off to gather his pre-packed satchel and cloak. Fifteen minutes later, the four shinobi rushed through the entrance pass of Sunagakure and out across the desert.

/~/~

They rendezvoused with the caravan at an oasis that served as a popular lay-over for traders and travelers. Naruto looked around excitedly, peering at the many tents set up amongst the palms and shrubs. Catching a glimpse of shimmering water, he almost tripped over Kankurou in his distraction. The older genin scowled fiercely and made a threatening gesture.

Naruto laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, sorry! It's just my first time in a place like this! It's so amazing. I've never seen so many of these things - or these people!" he said brightly, his attention momentarily distracted as a young woman in a strange robe and a veil walked past. Tearing his eyes away, he turned to Gaara and asked, "What about you?"

Gaara glanced at him without any interest or expression. "I have never been outside the village before," he said flatly.

"We should get souvenirs," Naruto decided. "...But I'm broke." 'And,' he thought a little sadly, 'I don't have anyone to give them to.'

Finishing his conversation with a rotund man with an impressive mustache and a red turban, Baki made his way to his students. His serious, cold expression made even Naruto pull himself up straighter. Baki's eyes lingered a moment Gaara, as if to make sure he was not (yet) covered in someone's blood, before he gestured sharply to Naruto and Kankurou.

Leading them aside, he said quietly, "Stay on the defensive. Focus on protecting the traders and their merchandise." He looked back over his shoulder at their last teammate's unmoving figure. "Gaara will take care of anyone who attacks, but he will not spare concern for the clients." Hesitating for a moment, Baki added, "If he begins to go out of control, run."

Kankurou snorted, muttering, "You don't have to tell me twice," and wandering off.

However, Naruto lingered for a moment. "What about the clients?" he asked.

"The village put a great deal of effort into training you," Baki replied with a frown. "Don't waste that."

Nodding slowly, Naruto asked instead, "What about Gaara?"

The look Baki gave him was something between surprise and pity. "Gaara does not need anyone's concern. If something is capable of harming him, you will need all your concern for yourself."

/~/~

The raid they had been expecting came as the caravan left the sandy part of the desert and entered a lifeless stone ravine.

Sensing the attack before his students, Baki yelled for them to get down, and Naruto dropped like he had been trained, pulling the nearest trader down with him. Arrows rained down on the caravan, tearing into the wagons.

The bandits appeared a moment later over the edges of the ravine, their shapes dark against the sky. There were a lot of them, Naruto noted. Shaking himself mentally, he focused on his mission – protecting the people, and their stuff.

Dragging the nearest trader by the scruff, Naruto shoved him under a wagon and ran forward to the pack animal. It was already near panicking and Naruto quickly cut the restraints, figuring it would be better to track the animal later than to have an out of control cart now.

He had been at the end of the caravan; now, he worked his way forward, cutting all the beasts loose and doing his best to maneuver the civilians into somewhat safer positions. Luckily, the bandits had much bigger problems than hunting down the traders. The screams had already started.

Naruto thought it best not to look too closely at what Gaara was doing. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of wildly flailing sand, bodies being easily tossed aside and blood – that was enough.

Apparently, it was enough for many of the bandits as well. Leaving their comrades to distract the sand and its wielder, a small band ran for the first wagon, intent on using it to escape with at least some spoils.

Reaching back, Naruto unsheathed the weapon he had been given in the Academy. Simply, it was blade, a little less than a foot and a half in length. Naruto didn't know whether it was supposed to be a short sword or a long knife and he had quickly forgotten its technical name. What mattered was its use as a way for him to focus his chakra.

'My aim's still no good,' Naruto thought. 'I can't risk using a wind blade and hitting one of the clients instead. I'll have to do a wide wind blast...'

Seeing a chance, he swung the blade, the pressure cracking several boards on the wagon next to the bandits and sending an unlucky trader to the ground. The bandits themselves stumbled and turned to look at their attacker.

That had been Naruto's goal. Already, he had several shuriken out and flying, hitting two of the bandits. In a moment of confusion, several charged at him, perhaps thinking their chances would be good against a mere child, while others continued on ahead.

For a few confusing instances, he brawled with those that had remained behind before flipping away and continuing his pursuit of the rest – but at the head of the caravan, the last bandits had wisened up and taken a trader hostage.

Unforgivably, Naruto froze for a moment.

One of the bandits hit him sharply across the head, making Naruto stumble. The trader yelped in fear, and Naruto felt a flash of panic. He didn't know what to do; he didn't have time to think; he was afraid someone was about to be killed – him or his client.

But then, like a bolt from the blue, sand surged past him, engulfing the bandit who had hit Naruto and heading to the one with hostage. Naruto remembered Baki's words – Gaara wouldn't care about collateral damage – and dashed forward as well.

As the sand wrapped around the bandit's arm, the man flailed his sword wildly. Wincing as one careless strike made a shallow cut across his shoulder, Naruto jabbed the man in the stomach and grabbed the trader, dragging him away. The sand climbed further across the bandit, completely covering him and then _squeezing_.

Wincing, Naruto looked away.

/~/~

It was over quickly after that. Depressingly quickly, really. There wasn't anything left of the bandits except some bloodstains and abandoned weapons, Naruto noted as he looked over the caravan. Sheathing his blade, he realized his hands were shaking. 'So this is a real mission,' he thought dazedly.

Naruto jumped when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. Looking up, he met Baki's calculating stare. "Any wounds?" the jounin asked. Trying to swallow, Naruto realized his throat was impossibly dry. Unable to squeeze the words out, he just shook his head. Baki turned away, though he kept his hand in place. "Kankurou!" he barked. "Stop hiding and make yourself useful! Gather up the animals. They should still be close."

Appearing from behind an outcropping, Kankurou seemed ready to protest, but a glare from his instructor made him turn and set to the task. Baki looked down at Naruto again, his expression still forbidding, but he gave the boy's shoulder a faint squeeze. "Go help get the caravan back together and patch up any wounded. You had basic field medicine training, right?"

"Y-yeah," Naruto replied, stammering a little. He looked around, still a little shaken. His eyes focused a solitary figure. "What about Gaara?" Naruto wondered. "Is he-?"

"Leave him," Baki instructed. "He's most unstable after a strong battle." His gaze lingered on Naruto to convey the seriousness of the order, and Naruto nodded, swallowing heavily. After one last look at his teammate's tense back, almost obscured by his gourd, Naruto turned to help the caravan.

The border town where they parted ways with the traders was another new sight, all wide streets, colorful shopfronts and large warehouses. But Naruto's enthusiasm had been a little dampened. He stood lost in thought in a small alcove, out of the way of the bustling traffic. 'I made it through my first C-rank,' he thought. 'I didn't really do much. I wonder if it even made any difference that I was on the team.' He smiled suddenly. 'Well, I did more than Kankurou at least. Though, I think he might really hate me now...'

"Hey, kid. Kid!"

Naruto's head snapped up in surprise as he was pulled out of his thoughts. A man stood in front of him, wearing the same colorful turban as the traders they had just escorted. It took Naruto a moment to realize this was the man he had saved from the bandits.

"Oh, hi! Is something wrong?" Naruto wondered. "Sensei should be getting the completion receipt now..."

Shaking his head, the trader held out a small packet wrapped in wax paper. Accepting it gingerly, Naruto peeled back a corner. His eyes brightened. "Thanks, kid. I guess not all you shinobi are so bad," the traders said gruffly.

Naruto beamed. "If you ever need help, hire us again! I'm Naruto!" he said with renewed cheer.

But after waving goodbye to the man, Naruto looked at the packet in confusion. "It's been a long time since I got something like this, Mom," he said quietly. "I like Suna, but people back home aren't just generous like this." He sighed. "You always said things taste best if you share them with someone, but... Who can I share this with?"

"Talking to yourself now?" Kankurou bit out as he came up behind his teammate. His expression was thunderous. 'Just because I did my best to stay out of Gaara's way,' he thought angrily. 'My Karasu and I are worth more than a few lousy civilians.'

Grinning sheepishly, Naruto tucked the packet away. "Are we all ready? Let's hurry back, huh?"

/~/~

Since he was the only rookie on the team (Gaara didn't count), Baki pulled Naruto aside after they arrived to show him how to file a report and to talk to him about his performance on the mission.

"We'll go over hostage situations in more detail later," Baki noted. "And you'll need to practice using your wind techniques in practical situations. Overall, the mission went well. Go rest."

Beaming happily, Naruto hurried away in high spirits. 'This is it, Mom! I've finally taken the first step to becoming a legendary shinobi!'

As he walked through the streets leisurely, Naruto noticed that everyone seemed oddly… subdued. Instead of eyeing him a bit distrustfully – like they usually did with "the foreign brat" – they were cringing away and doing their best to hide inside shops and under awnings. Slowing down in surprise, Naruto looked around.

'Nothing left, nothing right,' he thought. 'Oh, yeah, up!'

And there, on the roof of a nearby building, stood Gaara.

He wasn't actually doing anything, just standing with his arms crossed, staring off into the distance as a faint breeze ruffled his white belt. Naruto watched him for a moment before grinning and jumping up as well.

Gaara's eyes slid over to Naruto slowly, eyeing the intruder emotionlessly.

"Hey!" Naruto said cheerfully, though he made an effort to be a little more subdued than usual. "Thanks for helping me back there, and for everything you did on the mission. I actually kinda feel bad… I was pretty useless, though at least I wasn't as useless as Kankurou."

Naruto chuckled, but Gaara only continued to watch him impassively. "Oh! I remember!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, putting one fist into the palm of his hand. Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out the packet he'd been given. "One of the clients gave me this as thanks! Want some?"

He proffered the open packet to Gaara, taking one of the _daifuku_ sweetpaste-filled rice cakes for himself. As Gaara continued to watch him expressionlessly, Naruto settled cross-legged on the roof and nibbled on the treat, until Gaara finally gingerly picked up a sweet as well.

Naruto was starting on his second one by the time Gaara took a small bite. At first, the redhead's expression remained stoic but slowly, minutely, it began to shift into… disgust?

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked. "Bad flavor?"

For a few moments, Gaara was silent, but Naruto was beginning to get used to the pauses and steeled his patience. "Red bean paste," Gaara finally said quietly and without inflection. Still, he somehow managed to make his disgust absolutely clear.

Naruto scratched his head. "You don't like bean paste? Ah, sorry about that. Hm, guess dango is out too, then. What kind of food do you like?"

Eying the sweet still in his hand oddly, Gaara finally said, "Salted tongue and gizzard."

"You know, I don't think I've ever had any of that," Naruto said thoughtfully, finishing off his _daifuku_. "Oh, hey, but I saw some sold before! Wait here, okay?"

Without waiting for a reply, Naruto jumped off the roof and into the street. Hurrying a few streets over, he found a vendor that looked about right – a small stand with only a few benches in front, selling simple grilled food on sticks. The man behind the counter eyed him a bit distrustfully but Naruto beamed and pulled out more coins that could possibly be necessary.

"Hey, hey!" he exclaimed brightly. "I just got back from an awesome mission and I'm completely famished! You got any salted tongue or gizzard?"

The vendor's eyes darted to his headband and a bit of respect began to creep in. A shinobi who went on missions outside of town was a pretty important asset, especially one who was also willing to spend their pay fairly freely.

"Of course. How many do you want?" the man asked.

Naruto thought for a moment. "I dunno, enough for two! We ran all the way back from Bird Country. My jounin-sensei is a total slave driver!"

That got him his order quickly, with a small bottle of drink thrown in "on the house", and soon Naruto was running back to where he had left his teammate.

It seemed that Gaara hadn't moved from his spot, but Naruto noticed in surprise that the _daifuku_ had gotten just a little smaller. He chuckled as he moved to stand next to his teammate. "Hey, hey, don't eat it if you don't like it! Try this instead."

Gaara eyed the skewer even more oddly than the _daifuku_, but he took it as well, and it was fairly obvious – somehow, not that his expression changed much – that he far preferred this food. Taking a bite out of his own meal, Naruto chewed thoughtfully.

"Not bad," he decided, "chewy."

Gaara ate silently, but after a short while Naruto began to talk quietly. "Maybe we can use it to bait a messenger bird," he offered, nodding to the _daifuku_ Gaara still held. "I always tried to catch one in Academy, but they all got away. Of course, they're trained to avoid shinobi, but maybe if we leave it the daifuku, it'll eat it and get so fat and slow it won't be able to dodge!"

"Why?" Gaara asked tonelessly, eyeing the sweet in his hand and setting it aside on the package from the skewers.

Naruto hummed thoughtfully as he took another bite and held out the bottle to Gaara. "I dunno. I just always thought it'd be fun." He tilted his head to the side as he looked at Gaara. "Don't you ever do things like that? Like... I dunno, just run across the rooftops yelling, 'The zombies are coming!' or paint graffiti on the admin building or leave trap holes in the training grounds..."

Thinking about the times he'd done those things, Naruto laughed nervously. "Come to think of it, though, I got into a lot of trouble for that... But it was still lots of fun." He grinned brightly at Gaara. "Wanna do it with me? There's got to be something you've always wanted to do."

Gaara stared across the village. "I have always wanted to play ball," he said finally, his tone so entirely serious, Naruto couldn't bring himself to laugh.

"You know," he said contemplatively, "so have I. It's not really all that fun by yourself." Suddenly, he smiled again and laughed. "But now there's two of us! I bet we could have a pretty fun game - especially if we use our techniques! We could do it on the roofs! If you break a window, it's an automatic loss! Or maybe if you get caught afterward?..." Naruto trailed off, thinking with far too much concentration about the theoretical rules of their theoretical game.

They sat silently for a little while longer, finishing off their food. Finally, Gaara stood and looked down at his teammate.

"I'll kill you last," he said flatly and disappeared in a swirl of sand.

'Mom, I went on my first C-rank mission. Then, I got to know one of my teammates a little better. He says he'll kill me last. Don't worry though! I think… for him, that's a really good start.'

Looking out across the city, Naruto smiled and raised his face to the wind.

'I'm gonna do my best as a shinobi of Sunagakure.'

/~/~

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A/N: ...

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	2. Idealize your reality

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Title: New Wind Nation Waking ~(新風国覚醒)~

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

Note: Expectations were high! And then they all came crashing down!

/~/~

/~/~

"Our next mission is especially important," Baki explained in his serious tone of voice, which made both Naruto and Kankurou stop fighting and pay attention. "We have received a request from Bird Country, to the north."

"We've been to the border before," Naruto pointed out, crossing his arms and tilting his head, "to escort traders. What's so special about that? I mean, I heard it's a nice place – Mom wanted to go there – but how's it different from all our other missions?"

Baki nodded, his surprisingly deep patience tolerating what Kankurou called "absolute stupidity" under his breath. "This mission is different because it comes from the government of Bird Country itself, not from private citizens. Their previous daimyo passed away recently, and this is our opportunity to impress the new leader. If this mission goes well, the daimyo may send all his business to us in the future."

While Naruto grinned excitedly, Kankurou frowned. 'If this mission is so delicate, why send Gaara?' he wondered. 'If he goes nuts and starts killing everyone in sight, it's not going to impress anyone…' Kankurou paused then smirked. 'Unless that's what they're aiming for. A show of overwhelming force to inspire fear, huh?'

"According to the mission request," Baki continued, "an apparition has been terrorizing the population and spreading rumors."

"A what?" Naruto asked, his eyes squinting in confusion.

Baki sighed. "A ghost."

"A _ghost_?" Kankurou and Naruto demanded in unison. Shuddering in terror, Naruto lunged for the puppeteer and clung to him like a limpet. Cursing, Kankurou tried to pry him off while glaring at Baki. "Are you kidding me? There's no such thing as ghosts!"

"Well, in that case, we'll get paid for hunting down a conman," Baki pointed out calmly. Kankurou cursed again and used activated Karasu's long arms to stab at Naruto, who wailed in horror.

"A _ghost_! Does ninjutsu even work against a ghost?" he whimpered.

"Well, you'll find out, won't you?" Kakurou pointed out nastily. "Anyway, we've got something better than a ghost."

"We do?" Naruto asked, his grip slackening surprise, enough for Kankurou to kick him off.

"Yeah," the puppeteer sneered. "Gaara."

Naruto brightened. "That's right!" Turning to his other teammate, who had silently ignored the exchange, he whined, "Gaara, you'll beat the ghost, right? You'll protect us!"

"Protect you?" Gaara said slowly, as if the very idea was incomprehensible.

Nodding vigorously, Naruto said, "Sure! You're way stronger than me, and you'll totally beat that ghost, so you'll protect us! Like you do from the bandits!"

"Be at the gate in fifteen minutes," Baki called out as the two boys began to walk away, Naruto pointing out all the times Gaara had "protected" them – basically, a recounting off all their missions together and the destruction Gaara had caused.

Kankurou lingered for a moment, giving Baki his best glare. "So the reason they're sending Gaara is because they figure a demon beats a ghost, is that it?"

"That's part of it," Baki admitted. "Also, the pay is awful, so they don't want to send someone who could be needed elsewhere. Because of Gaara's situation, we don't take many missions as it is."

"If they're so cheap, why are we going at all?" Kankurou grumbled.

The look Baki gave him showed just what the jounin thought of the Kazekage's son being so thoughtless. "Even if the pay is bad, the potential to build our reputation still stands. With the Wind daimyo no longer giving us enough business, we need to look abroad."

Shrugging one shoulder, Kankurou looked pensive. "I thought things were getting better. I mean, he seemed really impressed this past Chuunin Exam, when both Temari and Haseo got promoted."

Baki nodded, his voice lowering as their discussion broached topics generally left silent. "Yes, the daimyo was very impressed with both your teammates – enough to take Temari as part of his personal guard. But that's only a very small step. We are still teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. We need this, and any other, job we can get."

Kankurou's expression was deeply unhappy as he nodded and walked away to gather his pack. Watching him go, Baki sighed. 'And we need to do everything we can to stabilize the village before the Kazekage becomes any more desperate – desperate enough to do something foolhardy.'

/~/~

'Mom, I'm going on another mission,' Naruto thought as he and his team, together with the messenger from Bird, set out through Suna's single exit – a narrow passage cut straight from the rock walls around the village.

'This is our fourth mission together, and my fourth C-rank. It's also the first time we're going out of Wind Country on purpose. Sure we chased the bandits out before, and sometimes the caravans wanted to go a bit beyond the borders, but I'm still excited!' Naruto smiled faintly. 'It seems so long since we traveled together, Mom. I brought your travel log with me, and I'll make sure to add to it now, just like you used to.'

Laughing to himself, Naruto grinned and added a little spring to his step. As always, Kankurou scowled at the display while Baki tolerated it wordlessly – compared to Gaara, Naruto was almost normal.

Smirking, Kankurou said a little slyly, "So, what's our mission again? Something about a ghost?"

"G-ghost? That's just a rumor, right?" Naruto stuttered, faltering in his step and looking to their client.

"Well, I've never seen it myself, but Lord Oki saw it with his own eyes," the young man – Chishima, he had introduced himself – said slowly. "It was so close he could feel its breath. It's said to appear as a warrior in white armor…"

Naruto whimpered faintly, edging closer to Gaara, who gave him a flat stare but otherwise ignored his teammate. Kankurou snorted. "You people really believe that?"

Chishima nodded meekly pushing his thick-rimmed round glasses further up his nose. "Some think it's the disembodied spirit of the previous daimyo, Lord Oowashi."

Fed up with his students' antics, Baki broke in, saying, "Lord Oowashi was the current daimyo's father, correct? My students are young, as you see, so perhaps you could educate them about the history of your land." 'Instead of filling their heads with nonsense.'

"Y-yes, of course," Chishima said quietly, fidgeting with his wide-brimmed hat. "Our land is called Bird Country because the capital is built upon a lake to which birds come when they migrate. It's a very green and fertile place…"

'Very different from Suna, then,' Naruto thought, echoed mentally by both Kankurou and Baki. Even Gaara seemed to be listening.

"The troubles first started when our previous leader, Lord Oowashi, passed away suddenly from illness. There were questions about succession – between Lord Oowashi's son, Lord Sagi, and his most trusted advisor, Lord Komei," Chishima explained, his tone meek and downtrodden. "Lord Komei argued that Sagi was too young to take leadership, and many agreed with him…"

"But he was chosen anyway," Kankurou pointed out, referring to Baki's earlier comment.

Chishima nodded. "Yes, Sagi eventually took the throne, largely due to the support of the leader of our Royal Guard, Lord Oki, who agreed to act as regent until Sagi became ready to govern and continues to advise him. Then, less than half a year later, Lady Toki, Sagi's twin sister died suddenly as well. Since then, Sagi has become a completely different person…"

Kankurou shot Baki a dark look. 'Died suddenly, did they? Nice mysterious way to go out, and very suspicious for two people in the court.' But he didn't mention it. It was none of their business. Instead, he said, "Sounds like you knew this Sagi pretty well, to judge something like that."

"We were childhood friends," Chishima said calmly, as if it was a casual thing. "Sagi, Toki and I grew up together, and Sagi and I were like brothers. But since Toki's death, he has retreated from the world. He speaks to almost no one and governs from within his palace. It was also around that time the Cursed Warrior began appearing around the capital. Rumors began to spread about Lord Oowashi's death, that it was not a natural one…"

'No shit,' Kankurou thought. 'Didn't anyone check? Then again, that sort of thing is easily falsified.'

"People began to say that the Cursed Warrior is Lord Oowashi's spirit, come back to wreak vengeance on the traitors who had murdered him," Chishima concluded.

Naruto shuddered, now barely a foot from Gaara. Without changing his expression or posture, Gaara lifted a bit of sand to push the blond away. Momentarily startled, Naruto yelped in surprise. Kankurou smirked at the younger boy but his expression was mostly serious as he turned to Chishima. "I don't believe it," he declared flatly.

"Elaborate," Baki instructed, giving his oldest student a very teacher-like look.

"Sounds like this Guard leader guy gained the most from the daimyo's death," Kankurou said, scowling. "Or maybe that advisor guy got pissed that he couldn't become daimyo because the Guard leader stepped in. Either way, there's so much politics going on, I'd bet on a nice, explainable _human_ cause."

Naruto nodded vigorously. "Yeah! It's like a super elaborate prank! Well, I'll solve this case! No one's going to upstage me in pranking!" he exclaimed, grinning now.

"Pranking?" Chishima wondered.

"That's right! I used to pull all kinds of pranks!" Naruto nodded proudly.

Baki frowned. "Yes, your impressive record with the police is testament to that. How many counts of vandalism and disturbance of peace was it? Twenty? Thirty?"

Laughing, Naruto held up a peace sign, but inwardly he sulked. 'I would've kept going too, but I couldn't afford to get locked up for weeks anymore – I was missing way too much time at the academy…'

/~/~

"Does this lord really live _here_?" Kankurou demanded, sneering. He looked around the plain, almost poor room with contempt. Baki's glare made him fidget, but not enough to keep him quiet. "He's supposed to be one of the most important people in the country!"

'Are we really hoping to squeeze some money out of these people?' he wondered.

Chishima smiled a little more freely now, having changed into court outfit, if a very plain one. "Lord Oki has no interest in material things. He lives frugally," he said with pride.

"I must apologize for receiving you like this," a deep voice said as the bird-etched screen door slid open. The man who entered had enough markings on his face to match Kankurou, with thick red lines over and under his eyes and lining his lips. He wore the green coat that marked the Royal Guard, though in a shade deeper than his subordinates.

"Lord Oki," Chishima said reverently, prostrating himself.

"Eh?" Naruto drew out in surprise. "This weird guy who looks like he should be putting on a play or something? This old guy is the Royal Guard leader?"

Kankurou hated to agree with Naruto on anything, but his thoughts were the same. 'What with those marks? They're not appropriate war paint at all! No wonder they had to call in foreign shinobi if their special guard is led by this loser.'

Baki scowled as he forced both Kankurou and Naruto to bow as well, slamming their foreheads into the floor harder than strictly necessary. Gaara remained in his corner, a silent presence.

"Please, please, no need for that now! I'm delighted to meet you! You must be the ninja from our neighbor state!" Lord Oki said, chuckling.

Baki nodded respectfully. "Yes, we are the shinobi of Sunagakure-no-sato. I am Baki, a jounin, and these three are my genin students – Naruto, Kankurou and Gaara." His expression grew more serious. "Now, let's get down to business. You hired us to deal with a certain problem – a so-called apparition of a white warrior. Has there been any pattern to its appearances?"

Lord Oki slowly shook his head. "Unfortunately no, none that we could find. It has, however, mostly targeted high-ranking officials."

Thinking for a moment, Baki nodded. "Then, we will wait for now and concentrate on protecting the three highest officials – you, Daimyo Sagi, and Lord Komei. Kankurou will protect the daimyo, Naruto will guard Lord Komei, and I will stay with you so we can try to find some pattern to these attacks and marshal your Guard. Meanwhile, Gaara will patrol the capital," Baki added the last part as a second thought. Honestly, he just didn't trust Gaara not to kill whoever he was protecting.

Naruto shuddered unhappily but didn't protest as the team divided for their tasks.

/~/~

Lord Komei's mustache – a thick, handle-bar affair that grew into his side-burns and rose to frame his growing bald patch – almost made Naruto laugh at first sight, but he bravely reigned in the impulse. 'This is a serious mission! Baki-sensei is counting on me! Kankurou will laugh forever if I fail!' he encouraged himself.

It helped that Lord Komei didn't make any disparaging remarks about his youth and appearance. "So Lord Oki has hired foreign shinobi," Komei noted thoughtfully. "I didn't expect that…"

Naruto cocked his head to the side, relaxing a little. "Why? Bird Country doesn't have any ninja of its own, right?"

Lord Komei frowned. "We don't have a Hidden Village, true, but we have the Royal Guard under Lord Oki. They were a wandering group capable of some ninja arts, to whom Lord Oowashi gave sanctuary in exchange for their service and loyalty. I did not think their pride would allow them to admit defeat so easily… But perhaps this is for the best," he admitted.

"Eh? How come? If you've got your own guys…" Naruto settled onto the floor of Komei's office, leaning against the wall as the man turned back to his paperwork. "You don't like them? Or, I guess, if they really couldn't handle it…"

"This is a delicate matter, and I do not trust them or their impartiality," Lord Komei said flatly. "Unlike our Lord Sagi, I have traveled and seen much of the world. I understand that those who abandon their homes are unlikely to show much loyalty to another, foreign place."

Naruto frowned angrily. "Maybe they really do want to have a place to call home," he defended. "If you give them a place to be loyal to, maybe they will repay it."

'Suna took me in, and I will repay that. I would never betray my home, even if it is not the place of my birth,' Naruto thought furiously.

Lord Komei paused, looking at Naruto thoughtfully. "Perhaps, but it is unlikely with this group," he said. "Loyalty is something that grows slowly and must be cultivated from an early age. People give their truest loyalty to their first home – the place they connect to their childhood. That is why I wished for us to train our own men, instead of simply hiring mercenaries…"

At Naruto's mulish expression, Lord Komei shook his head. "It would seem that this is a subject on which we will disagree. But… you were not born in Wind Country, I take it."

For a moment, Naruto froze in surprise. 'All the teachers always said I was too transparent,' he thought with a grimace.

Taking his silence as affirmative, Lord Komei nodded to himself. "I may not be a ninja, but I have been Chief Advisor to the daimyo for many years. I can tell this is a personal subject to you. I am surprised that a ninja village – so notoriously distrustful of outsiders – would allow you to serve in their ranks."

Shrugging irritably, Naruto admitted, "It's by the Kazekage's grace. He thought I might be strong enough, since I survived a sandstorm, so he had me taken in and trained as a Suna-nin. Sunagakure is my home. Even if I've only lived there for five years, it's still my home… my one and only home."

Lord Komei's stern face softened just a little. "I see. You are an orphan then. But you hold a strong loyalty to your home because you were raised and taught there. Sunagakure-no-sato shaped who you are. That would not be the case if it had been just another place you passed through, as I sometimes fear Bird Country is for the Royal Guard."

Naruto scowled a little, but he let the subject go. The two fell silent, and soon the only sound in the office was the methodical shuffling of papers and quiet thumps of the advisor's seal.

Hours passed, and darkness gathered outside. Despite his very clear orders, Naruto found himself nodding off a little until Lord Komei finally rose and said he was ready to retire for the night. Agreeing sleepily, Naruto settled on the veranda outside the advisor's room since that seemed to be the far more likely place for a ghost to come from.

'Huh?' Naruto thought, starting a little and wiping a bit of drool. 'Oh no, I think I fell asleep…'

The guards at the gate were shouting, their voices high with fear. Naruto's eyes widened as a white figure in a red mask suddenly jumped over the outer walls of the compound and landed gracefully in the inner courtyard. Walking slowly toward him – and toward Komei, who had appeared behind the screen with his sword in hand – it lifted its halberd menacingly.

"You… are responsible," its deep voice rumbled.

With an elegant motion, it shifted into a ready stance and attacked, but Naruto quickly jumped between them, using his own blade to block. There was real power in the blow, but it was nothing that a shinobi couldn't handle.

For a moment, the two matched strength before the Cursed Warrior jumped away. It leapt onto the wall and then began to rise into the air as Naruto stared in frank surprise.

'Mom,' he thought blankly, 'I'm seeing someone _fly_.'

Behind him, Komei shifted and muttered, "That's… Those moves…"

Naruto snapped back to attention. Molding wind-natured chakra, he swung his blade at the ghost, which wavered for a moment but continued on its path. Naruto cursed and ran after it, through the dark streets of the capital.

Several times, he almost lost sight of it until it hovered above an abandoned area on the outskirts and began to descend. As Naruto approached, he could see that they were on the grounds of an abandoned temple, with the Cursed Warrior standing in front of the main building that would have housed the enshrined god's vessel, almost as if it had been waiting for him.

"Hey! Stop!" Naruto called out, molding chakra again and sending out a blade of wind. The attack slammed into the armor, but it seemed to do no damage at all, simply breaking off the breast plate. "Erg! No way!" he whimpered.

Shuriken had no effect either, bouncing off harmlessly. Scared and a little desperate, Naruto tried again, pushing far more chakra into his wind attack. It was enough to halt the armor in its tracks and make it shudder. In the last gust, its helmet flew off, clattering in the background, but there was no face revealed. Instead, a burst of light came from inside the armor. The Cursed Warrior moved jerkily as it reached for its sword and took a menacing step forward.

Naruto squeaked.

'Mom, it's me. I've met a real live ghost,' he thought with an odd detachment. 'Maybe that means I'm gonna meet you again now…'

But whether or not there was a life after death, Naruto would not find out just then. Instead, sand suddenly surged over the armor, pouring into its empty neck and filling it until it burst apart. Slumping in relief, Naruto glanced over his shoulder to see Gaara standing in one of the trees around the temple, one hand up, directing the sand.

The sand receded and, as Gaara jumped to the ground, returned to his gourd. All that was left of the Cursed Warrior was empty armor, strewn across the ground in front of the temple.

"T-thanks a lot, Gaara," Naruto said with a sigh of great relief. "I thought I was really gonna die… I can't believe we met a real ghost."

'Mom, this mission is absolutely _insane_.'

/~/~

/~/~

A/N: Mostly a slow chapter to set up the next arc and answer some questions about the background.

Q&A:

**What the hell is Bird Country?** A: Yes, Filler Hell stuff, episode 162-167 or so. I actually looked it up on YouTube and let me tell you, watching with those useless Spanish and Italian (?) subtitles was a pain. However, there are some differences from canon.

**What happened to Temari?** A: She got promoted to chuunin in the exam before the one we see in canon. (Chuunin exams happen twice a year.) More about that and how teams are made in Suna later.

**Does Naruto have the Kyuubi?** A: No. Just, no. Possibly to be explained later. I just don't feel it would really add or detract from this story, since no one around Naruto would be aware that he (would be) a jinchuuriki.

**Why does Naruto talk to himself so much?** A: Naruto is lonely, so he's talking to himself. Characters do this in anime, a lot. Off the top of my head, _Ouran Host Club_'s Haruhi does this. She goes, "Dear Mother in heaven." So does Kanako from _MariaHolic_ (Or So I Heard). Kuu in _Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora_ "writes" letters to her prince (again, or so I heard). _Yu-Gi-Oh!_'s Bakura Ryou writes letters to his dead little sister (but he might not be a very good example of sanity).

Keep in mind, NW Naruto doesn't have _anyone_. He had Kushina in the first six-seven years, but after coming to Suna, he had absolutely no one. Not even the Sandaime or Iruka the way canon Naruto did. He doesn't actually think that Kushina is still alive or can answer somehow. It's just a… comfort thing, like a mental "Dear Diary".

/~/~

/~/~


	3. Motivate your anger

/~/~

/~/~

Title: New Wind Nation Waking ~(新風国覚醒)~

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

Notes: Part 2 of 4 in the Bird Country arc.

/~/~

/~/~

Baki nodded thoughtfully as Naruto finished his report the next morning.

"Yes, that seems to fit what I learned as well," he said slowly. "Lord Oki and his Royal Guard were a mercenary band who came to Bird Country about three years ago. Lord Oowashi was so impressed with their skills – some primitive taijutsu, genjutsu and a great deal of sleight of hand – that he installed them as part of his government. Lord Oki became a Chief Advisor, equal to Lord Komei in power."

Kankurou snorted. "So Komei probably hates Oki something fierce. Think he's the one doing it? The whole attack last night might have been an attempt to throw us off."

"I can't say yet," Baki admitted. "There is also the timing of the deaths to consider. Lord Oowashi fell ill very suddenly, about two years after Lord Oki came to Bird Country. Both Oki and Komei have motive here. More puzzling is the death of Sagi's sister. She wasn't even being considered for the position of daimyo and seemed to have almost no political power. I haven't been able to find out the cause of death either."

Without prompting, Kankurou nodded. "I'll try to ask around the daimyo."

Baki nodded. "Do so. Naruto, you remain at your post with Lord Komei." The blond whimpered pathetically and edged closer to Gaara, who crossed his arms and stoically ignored everything around him. Frowning, Baki barked, "You're a shinobi of Sunagakure!"

"So what? Ninjutsu isn't going to save me from a ghost!" Naruto shot back.

"Naruto…" Baki drew out in a tone of great suffering – a tone intimately familiar to every teacher at the academy. "Just… Ghosts don't come out in daylight, so you'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Naruto wondered, raising an eyebrow.

Kankurou snorted. "If you're so scared, take Gaara with you."

Watching as Naruto turned to the redhead and begged him to stay close, Baki sighed and shook his head. 'I would rather he didn't… but I guess it can't be helped. I just hope we can wrap this up quickly… before _it_ wakes up.'

/~/~

The daimyo Sagi was beautiful, with dark hair framing his round, delicate face – as far as Kankurou could tell through the screen that separated them. He was also a complete, stuck up prick. Kneeling in front of a distant shadowy figure, Kankurou was uncomfortably reminded of his audiences with the Kazekage.

"Speak your piece quickly, shinobi," the young lord declared coldly.

'Arrogant bastard,' Kankurou thought with knee-jerk hatred. "Yes, milord," he said instead, after years of diplomacy lessons. "As you know, I am a shinobi of Sunagakure-no-sato, hired to protect you and to investigate the appearances of the Cursed Warrior. In light of the rumors concerning the nature of the apparition, I wish to ask you about the circumstances of your father's and sister's deaths."

For a long moment, Sagi remained silent. "There is nothing to speak of," he finally said. Reaching into the sleeve of his elaborate robe, he took out something small and metallic. Squinting a bit, Kankurou realized it was a pocket watch. Looking at it sadly, Sagi continued, "My father and sister fell prey to human frailty; they are no longer in this world."

"And that watch?" Kankurou enquired. Sagi frowned, clutching it closer. "A keepsake?"

"It is Father's final gift, passed down in our family. But it no longer moves," Sagi said quietly, almost to himself. "Perhaps once you put these rumors to rest, this watch and our country will be able to move forward again."

"With all due respect, milord," Kankurou sneered despite himself, "if the watch has stopped, I can fix it for you. And you should do the same for your country."

'Instead of sitting around and watching things fall apart,' he added in his mind, uncharitably. 'Just like Father!'

"What insolence! Leave!" Sagi demanded. Bowing mockingly, Kankurou backed out of the room, leaving the young lord to his thoughts.

Before too long, he began to regret antagonizing his charge so much. The trouble started in the afternoon, as Kankurou was doing his rounds of the daimyo's mansion. The guards were oddly skittish and the daimyo was nowhere to be found. No matter how much Kankurou pressed, no one would tell him where the young lord had gone.

"Where is he?" Kankurou hissed to himself, stalking through the halls. In his agitation, he almost ran into someone as he rounded a corner, barely managing to hop back in time. Narrowing his eyes, Kankurou studied the other visitor to the mansion – the messenger who had come to Suna, Chishima. The mousy man adjusted his large glasses and bowed to Kankurou.

"Hey, you said you're friends with the daimyo, didn't you?" Kankurou demanded. "He's run off somewhere, so you're going to help me find him."

"Y-yes?" Chishima stammered.

The place that Chishima dragged him to was not in the least to Kankurou's taste. A Suna-nin born and bred, Kankurou still had trouble adjusting to water in any quantity just sitting around. The large, placid lake they crouched next to was almost entirely incomprehensible.

'At least the wimp was right. There's the royal carriage over there,' Kankurou thought sourly. 'Still, something about this just doesn't feel right.'

"Does your lord come here often?" he asked distractedly.

Chishima fidgeted nervously. "Well, yes. We played here together as children, so Lord Sagi often returns here to draw strength from the memory of his sister."

'So then it would be easy for anyone plan an ambush here,' Kankurou thought. 'And he brought only a few guards too…' Kankurou's eyes narrowed as he stared at the guards thoughtfully. They were dressed in the plain clothes of the general militia, not the pale green coats of the Royal Guards, but the way they moved was… off.

It took Kankurou a shocked moment to realize what he was seeing when one of the guards drew his sword, with no threat in sight, and turned to the carriage. The next moment, Kankurou had jumped out the reeds, already launching a hail of shuriken on the guards.

They dodged with worrying skill as the oxen in the carriage balked. The car began to tilt, and Lord Sagi jumped out, landing neatly despite his elaborate robes. One of the guards lunged at him, sword held high, but Sagi dodged and knocked the man aside with a quick strike as Kankurou reached the battle and slammed a kunai into another guard.

Despite their earlier disagreement, the two young men moved to stand back-to-back, eyeing the rest of the guards. Their odds were reasonably good, Kankurou thought – or at least, the odds for his own survival were good. Honestly, he wasn't all that good as a bodyguard. That was Temari's area.

But they needn't have worried. A moment later, a squad of the Royal Guard descended on the remaining traitors, dispatching them efficiently. 'Very efficiently,' Kankurou thought. 'Didn't want any prisoners, did they?'

The leader of the Guards – an awfully effeminate man with teal hair – kneeled in front of Sagi respectfully. "Please forgive our lapse, Lord Sagi. We have taken care of the traitors in your employ. From now on, we will take over your protection." Here, he shot a narrow-eyed look at Kankurou. Raising his eyebrows, Kankurou stepped away as the Guards swarmed Sagi.

The daimyo's expression shifted for a moment, but Kankurou couldn't quite identify the emotion. A moment later, he was returned to his carriage, which the Guards had righted again, and led away.

Once they had disappeared from view, Kankurou eyed the corpses thoughtfully. "This is…" Chishima muttered, making Kankurou look at him in surprise. He had forgotten about the man, but his troubled expression was intriguing.

"You know something?" Kankurou asked.

Chishima frowned. "These men… I know most of Lord Sagi's personal guards. They have been with him since childhood. But these men… they are unfamiliar to me."

"That so?" Kankurou mumbled, but his mind was already cataloguing the information. 'Not part of the usual guard? They could have been hired later, but it _would_ be odd to trust the daimyo's safety to strangers.' He frowned. 'And better yet, they moved as if they had some shinobi training – pathetically basic though it might have been. The plot's getting thicker.'

/~/~

Flipping down their cards, they found a ten of hearts and a jack of spades looking up at them.

As Naruto collected the two cards and added them to the bottom of his hand, Gaara asked, "What is the point of this activity?"

Squinting, Naruto frowned in thought. "It's a game. I don't think it _has_ a point except to have fun and to pass the time." He smiled the boy across from him. "I found the cards among Mom's old traveling stuff, so I decided to take them along. She used to play War with me all the time when we were traveling together." As they flipped over the next pair of cards, which Gaara took, Naruto laughed a little sheepishly. "She taught me other games too, but they were a bit more complicated, so I can't remember the rules now. Maybe if I think about it for a bit, they'll come back to me…"

"This is fun?" Gaara asked, his tone not quite dubious, but strongly suggesting it.

"Mmm, well, it's supposed to be. Better than just sitting around. It's a good way to relax too. War's not a game that relies on skill at all, so you don't really have to think about it," Naruto explained. Smiling, he added, "I'm having fun playing with you. Actually, playing against you is better than playing against Mom. She always lost really badly. But we're pretty much evenly matched."

Gaara didn't reply, instead flipping over the next card. For a while, only the repetitive shuffle of cards and Naruto's noises of triumph or defeat broke the silence of the evening. Abruptly, Gaara froze, a card held in the air as he stared over Naruto's shoulder.

Turning, Naruto was surprised to see a hooded figure slip out of the compound through a small side door. Gathering up the cards, he and Gaara followed silently.

"Hey," Naruto whispered in surprise as the hooded figure arrived at its destination, "this is the same temple as last night."

Slowly, the man uncovered his head and face, making Naruto stifle a gasp. It was Lord Komei, with his unmistakable mustache. In front of him, the shrine's doors slid open and a familiar figure emerged, its armor clanking faintly, its red mask gleaming in the faint light.

'Lord Komei is meeting the Cursed Warrior?' Naruto thought in confusion. But before he could come up with some plan of action – any plan of action, really – Gaara dropped down from the tree they had been hiding in and raised one hand.

Sand surged forward, but both Lord Komei and the Cursed Warrior rolled aside, letting it slam into the temple building behind them.

"Gaara, wait!" Naruto called out, landing next to his teammate. "We need them alive!"

Gaara's eyes widened and he bared his teeth. "Mother… wants their blood," he said quietly, but with an odd tone of relish. "It's been so long… It got away last time…"

"What? What are you talking about?" Naruto wondered, reaching for Gaara's shoulder. But before he could touch the other boy, a wave of sand shoved him away, far more sharply than ever before. Sent flying, Naruto slammed into a tree hard enough to crack the bark and slumped for a moment, dazed.

A terrified yell forced him back to reality, and he sharply shook his head to clear it. Gaara's sand had almost completely engulfed the armor and it was edging toward Lord Komei. Jumping to his feet, Naruto ran to the man, determined to protect at least someone.

"Gaara!" he called out again, over the screams of whoever had worn the armor. A moment later, there was a sickening crunch and the screams cut off. Instead the sand turned to the next target – Lord Komei. Drawing his blade, Naruto settled into a defensive stance. He tried to remember how to form the defensive technique Baki had started teaching him.

The sand rose, like a beast opening its maw, and Naruto thought, horrified, 'He's really going to attack me.' Then, it was surging toward him, and his body reacted on reflex. Flipping his blade over to a back-handed grip, Naruto slammed his free hand, fisted, into the ground and pulsed his chakra. A wall of wind spun up around him and Lord Komei, momentarily knocking the sand away.

As the wind and dust cleared, Naruto was surprised to see Gaara panting lightly. But it wasn't from exhaustion, he realized. The redhead raised one hand to his head, covering his tattoo and the eye under it.

"Mother, that's enough, right? You had that man's blood…" he muttered. "I'll give you more blood later..."

For the first time, Naruto understood the villagers' fear of Gaara. 'Mom, I'm really scared,' he thought. 'Gaara… there's something not right. What should I do?'

He swallowed heavily, tightening his grip on his blade, as the sand shuddered and began to rise slowly. But before it could either attack or retreat, Baki jumped in between the two boys. "Gaara! Stand down!" he barked. Behind him, green-coated Royal Guards swarmed in, surrounding Lord Komei and the remains of the Cursed Warrior.

Shuddering again, Gaara dropped his hand and slumped a little. His sand began to retreat, disappearing into his gourd, and Naruto slid to the ground in relief.

As Guards tied up Lord Komei and began to lead him away, one from the group around the Cursed Warrior called out, "It's no good! He's crushed beyond recognition!"

The men shifted and for a moment, Naruto caught a glimpse of the remains. Clapping a hand to his mouth, he had to fight down nausea.

'Mom, I think I might be in trouble after all,' he thought faintly.

/~/~

/~/~

Notes:

**Naruto's fighting style** – Okay, so he has a blade that's just shorter than a foot and a half. He keeps it sheathed behind his back, under his pouch. He uses it with his _left_ hand, since it's primarily a weapon to direct chakra and defend. He still throws his shuriken and kunai with his right. When defending, he tends to shift his grip to back-handed – that means the blade comes from the bottom of his fist, not from the side with his thumb.

/~/~

/~/~


	4. Make them all realize

/~/~

/~/~

Title: New Wind Nation Waking ~(新風国覚醒)~

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

Notes: Part 3 of 4, Bird Country Arc. ...Whatever.

/~/~

/~/~

"Hey, hey," Naruto greeted, trying to inject some cheer into his voice. It came out softer than usual, but at least there wasn't any of the lingering fear. As Gaara slowly turned to face him, Naruto smiled awkwardly and settled next to him on the porch of Oki's frugal home.

"Lord Komei has been arrested for treason. He's probably going to be executed, since apparently his men attacked the daimyo too," Naruto said quietly. Gaara gave no sign of interest, and Naruto frowned faintly. "Last night…" he started, "What did you mean? About 'mother' and…" 'Giving her blood…'

Gaara's gaze was flat and emotionless as he stared at Naruto for a long moment. "The sand is Mother's gift," he finally said. "It protects me and thirsts for blood."

"I don't understand," Naruto admitted, his face scrunching up in confusion. "Your mother made the sand? Is it… her bloodline or something?"

With a frightening lack of inflection, Gaara explained, "Mother was sacrificed, and now her will and the sand protect me from all harm."

"Oh…" He still didn't understand, but Naruto thought that this might be a good point to stop until he could ask Baki for a better explanation. 'Sacrificed? Just what does that mean? And the sand wants blood? It sounds way too crazy. And I don't Gaara's talking to his mother the way I talk to Mom. It really seems like something talks back…' "So… what was your mother like?" he asked instead.

"I don't know," Gaara said. "She was sacrificed while giving birth to me."

Naruto nodded slowly. "I never met my father either. Mom never talked about him at all and she always looked sad when I asked, so I stopped…" Without meaning to, he saddened. "And then Mom died too."

Gaara watched him silently, as Naruto forced himself out of his unhappy recollections.

"I miss her but I always try to remember her," he said with forced cheer. "I feel like she left me a lot of things too." Snapping his fingers, he pulled out the worn notebook he had brought with him. "This is her travel log. She only started it when I was about four, even though we had been traveling for a while. I think it's because her health was getting worse and she wanted to leave me something." Naruto flipped through the pages, ignoring the loose papers that dropped out, and pulled out a photograph, holding it out to Gaara.

Taking the photo gingerly, Gaara studied the young woman and the boy in the picture. The boy was obviously Naruto, if much younger – the yellow hair and the round face were unmistakable. The young woman must have been his mother. She had the same bright smile, though under her cheer, there was an unnatural parlor to her complexion and a gauntness to her features.

"Heh, I'm actually kind of jealous. With that red hair, you look more like her than I do," Naruto complained good-naturedly. "Mom always said I took after my father."

After a moment, Gaara said quietly, "Mother had blonde hair, like my sister." His expression shifted oddly.

"That's pretty weird," Naruto said with a grin. "Your mom being blonde and my mom being a redhead."

"You… loved your mother," Gaara said quietly.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I loved her a lot. I wish you could meet her. I wish I could introduce you to her." His expression became suddenly serious and determined. "Mom!" he called out to thin air. "This is my teammate Gaara!"

Even Gaara showed a little surprise at the sudden declaration.

"He's been taking care of me, so I'm really grateful!" Naruto continued. "I'm sure you'd like him too!"

Letting out a deep breath, he leaned back with a wistful smile. As Gaara continued to watch him, Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh, I guess that's the closest I can come. It's almost like she's listening somewhere."

Insanely embarrassed somehow, Naruto quickly looked away and began to gather up the papers he had dropped. They were a mixed jumble of photographs, receipts and letters that had been jammed between the pages. A certain series of characters caught Naruto's eye and he paused, studying the envelope.

The screen door slid open and Baki stepped out onto the veranda. Tucking the letter away into his pouch, Naruto stood quickly.

"Although it appears that our assignment has concluded," Baki began, his eyes sweeping over Naruto, Gaara and Kankurou, who appeared at the last moment, "I believe there are still some things left to resolve." His gaze lingered on his oldest genin.

Crossing his arms, Kankurou snorted. "I looked at the temple," he said. "Found some interesting stuff – like black kites, to fly unseen at night, but that's not the best of it. In the temple, there's a tunnel. And you'll never guess where it leads."

"Where?" Naruto took the bait easily, leaning forward a little.

Kankurou smirked. "The daimyo's mansion."

"Wha? That doesn't make any sense!" Naruto complained, frowning. "If Komei and his men did it, they're against the daimyo…"

Baki sighed. "It's just as I thought. Things are more complicated than they appear. Unfortunately, I can't accept that we, Suna-nin, are just going to be used like this."

"So, what are we going to do?" Naruto wondered. Baki smirked.

/~/~

A furious blush began to climb over Kankurou's cheeks, and he decided that it was about time to do what he had really come here for.

Clearing his throat, he said, "Not that I'm not enjoying the show, but you should probably leave something on, eh?"

With a startled gasp, Lord Sagi of Bird Country spun around, clutching "his" towel closer to "his" mostly undressed form. Kankurou raised an eyebrow as he struggled to keep his eyes from dipping lower. "I wanted to talk to you in private… but I didn't expect something like _this_."

_This_ being a decidedly _female_ form.

Holding up both hands to show they were empty – not that it meant much to a puppeteer – Kankurou said, "Now, calm down and don't scream. I just wanted to talk to a bit, about you and Oki… and the Cursed Warrior."

Sagi eyed him distrustfully, slipping into _her_ outer robe quickly. Jostled free, the stopped pocket watch fell out of the sleeve and rolled across the stones. Bending down, Kankurou picked it up as Sagi watched with a barely veiled hint of concern.

"You're not stupid, I think," Kankurou said slowly, turning the watch over in his hand. "You have to realize what Oki's doing. Those guards that turned on you by the lake? They were Oki's men – or at least some mercenaries Oki hired. He's going to remove Komei and become the one true leader of Bird Country, with you as a figurehead." He shrugged with exaggerated ease, meeting Sagi's eyes. "And that's just not acceptable to us in Suna."

"And what do you plan to do, then?" Sagi finally asked quietly, her posture radiating tension, ready to either fight or flee.

Kankurou sighed, tossing the watch in the air and catching it again. "Well, that's the problem. Bird Country is a sovereign nation. It would be problematic if Suna-nin acted outside their contract to force some massive political change. The other villages and nations would be howling interference in no time. But if you, say, hired us to kill your dear Chief Advisor, well, that would be entirely different."

Sagi looked away, her dark hair veiling her expression. "You don't understand," she said quietly.

"Oh? And what don't I understand?" Kankurou wondered, lifting an eyebrow. "Some mercenary bastard killed your father and your brother, and you're just going to let him go? My sister would never accept something like that." But that was kind of untrue. 'Temari might actually not care all that much if someone offed me or Father. Still, she wouldn't stand for being manipulated and controlled like this,' Kankurou thought a bit sourly.

"There is no proof that he killed my father… or my sister," Sagi replied. "I have nothing to use against him, and Oki is more trusted among the people than I am. Furthermore, he still has cards to play against me."

"Sister?" Kankurou repeated.

Sagi nodded. "My older sister and I were identical twins. At the time of our birth, Bird Country was very unstable, and our father felt that he needed a male heir to show strength and secure the line of succession. So he announced that a boy and a girl had been born. My sister and I took turns acting as 'Sagi' the son and as 'Toki' the daughter, though my sister preferred to be Sagi."

"That's… pretty screwed up," Kankurou muttered. "Damn, I can just imagine would Temari would say about that…"

The daimyo shook her head. "Even after our father died, Oki was unaware of our deception. However, he threatened my sister, using me as leverage. One day, she defied him and he swore he would kill me. But Sister insisted on switching roles – and she was the one who died. Oki found out then… and he is more than willing to reveal our secret if I do not go along with his plans."

Leveling her with a flat look, Kankurou snorted. "So, on the off chance that anyone's gonna care about your gender… You're going to let your loyal, innocent advisor get executed?"

"There's nothing I can do right now," Sagi insisted, refusing to meet his glare.

"Right. In that case, stay the hell out of our way, Princess," Kankurou sneered, turning away and disappearing into the hotspring's mist.

/~/~

"This concludes our mission. From here, this is an internal affair of Bird Country," Baki said calmly as he and his students stood at the gates of Bird Country's capital. Across from him, Oki and his lieutenant bowed.

"Of course. Thank you for all your assistance, honored shinobi," Oki said deferentially. "May you have a safe trip."

As the four Suna-nin disappeared, racing away from the city, Oki's teal-haired lieutenant stepped forward. "Do you think they're really leaving?" he asked.

Oki frowned. "It would seem so, but follow them anyway. Make sure they get to the border without causing problems. The last thing we need is something going wrong during the execution." Nodding sharply, the other man disappeared as well.

He followed the four figures until, suddenly, a good distance from the capital, all four stopped and simply stood motionless in the middle of a clearing. Crouching in the foliage, the Guard watched as three remained standing motionless while one settled cross-legged on the ground and pulled out a worn pack of cards.

'What are they doing?' the Guard wondered, after a half-hour had passed and the same tableau remained. 'Something is definitely wrong. I need to take care of this quickly.'

Jumping out of hiding, he launched a barrage of shuriken at the four Suna-nin. To his surprise, the three standing simply allowed themselves to be hit while a wall of sand rose to guard the redhead playing Solitaire. Calmly, the redhead gathered up the cards and stood.

But the Guard barely noticed, staring in shock at the other three figures. Their features were shifting, simplifying and losing color until only a vague approximation remained, shaped out of sand. The shuriken fell harmlessly to the ground as the redhead turned to look at the Guard.

"Your blood… will feed Mother," he said, insanity in his voice and his eyes.

The sand surged forward.

/~/~

Dressed in all white, hands tied, Lord Komei was led out in front of Oki and his puppet court. Behind a high fence and a line of Royal Guards, a large crowd had gathered to watch the proceedings. They shifted uneasily, these developments sitting badly with them.

"Komei," Oki intoned, crossing his arms, his lips quirking in a smirk, "you have committed treason, leading your men to kill loyal officials of our nation and to attack our daimyo. The sentence is death. Now, I give you a choice – die with a shred of honor by your own hand… or be killed ignobly by my men."

On cue, a Guard approached and placed a plain knife in front of the strategist. Studying it for a moment, Komei picked up the blade and pulled open his robes. Pointing the knife at his stomach, he closed his eyes.

"Stop!" A voice broke through the tense silence. Standing suddenly, Chishima, who had been seated to once side as a witness of the court, ran in front of Komei and glared at Oki. "This is wrong! These charges are completely false!"

Oki glared. "Get out of the way!" he barked, gesturing to his men.

"You set up Lord Komei! You're the traitor!" Chishima yelled as the Royal Guard closed around him, their swords unsheathed threateningly. Oki gestured sharply, a little desperately. "And you're the one who killed Lord Oowashi!"

A stunned silence fell over the crowd.

"You came here and tricked our Lord into giving you sanctuary, then you poisoned him and covered up his death! When she tried to expose you, you killed Lady Toki!" Chishima continued. "And now, you're trying to get rid of Lord Komei, who has served our country faithfully for many years!"

"You've got no proof!" Oki sneered. "Seize him!"

Chishima cringed away as the Guards changed, their swords gleaming threateningly, but before they could strike, a familiar white-armored figure dropped from the sky between the Guards and their targets. Thrusting its halberd at Oki's men, the Cursed Warrior threw down a smoke bomb. Grabbing both Chishima and Lord Komei, it jumped into the air again, disappearing.

As the smoke cleared, the crowd murmured, their voices rising menacingly.

Scowling, Oki yelled, "Disperse them! And find the traitors!" As his men ran to obey, he cursed. 'That was the last straw. The girl has outlived her usefulness!' Rage threatened to cloud his senses, absolute fury and just a hint of uncertainty making him anxious to rush through to the completion of his plan. But Oki had become leader of his band through cunning, a clear head and a devious mind making up for the strength he lacked.

Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself. 'Think. That rat had no proof to give, but now he has linked up with Komei and possibly even the little princess. What will they do? They will need to rally Komei's men for protection. But more than that, Komei will know that they need something to give the people to convince them of those claims. We have already disposed of all the bodies, so they prove the attack of the daimyo by the lake or the meeting with Komei at the temple. No, but what they _can_ prove is…'

"Nagare!" Oki barked out, and on his call, a heavy, muscular man appeared at his side. "Send the third division to secure the militia in their barracks. Take the fifth and go to the royal family's mausoleum. Make sure no one _disturbs_ our former leader's rest."

"Ha!" the heavy-set lieutenant bowed. For a moment, he lingered. "And you, Leader?"

Oki smirked, his painted lips stretching wide. "I will pay a visit to our esteemed daimyo," he said, malice heavy in his tone.

/~/~

A heavy, uncomfortable silence hung between Naruto and Sagi as the two waited tensely inside the daimyo's mansion. Glancing at the daimyo, Naruto fidgeted nervously.

Sagi's eyes slid to him and narrowed. "You do not need to remain here," she said coolly.

"It's an order," Naruto replied, grinning a little. "Baki-sensei told me to protect you until Kankurou gets back." Pausing, he asked hesitantly, "Why did you change your mind? About us helping you?"

Shifting a little, Sagi took out her father's watch, running her fingers over the surface. "After your comrade left, Chishima came to see me. He was… disappointed. He told me that as daimyo, I have a responsibility to Bird Country and its people. I couldn't just lie down and let Oki get away with this. Even with no evidence, with even less chance of surviving than I have, he refused to back down."

Sagi closed her eyes and called to mind the image of her childhood friend.

_"Do you think your father or your sister would want this?" Chishima asked sadly. "They wanted to protect our country and our people. They wanted you to inherit that will. Even if they are gone now, their spirits remain with us." Taking her hand gently in his, he turned it over and placed something in her palm. As he spun around and ran, Sagi stared at the polished silver surface of her father's watch._

_Flipping it open in a familiar, instinctive motion, she gasped in surprise to see it moving again._

"Kankurou fixed it?" Naruto echoed in surprise. "He said he ran into Chishima on his way to the gate, so I guess Chishima told him about his plans for the execution, and that's why Kankurou insisted that we needed to at least stick around. Kankurou must have given Chishima the watch then too."

Sagi nodded. "It's time for all of us to move forward. When I made that decision – to fight Oki – I felt as if my father's and sister's spirits were beside me…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Naruto agreed. "Even though they're not here anymore, everything they taught you is still part of who you are. As long as you hold on to those memories, they'll never really be gone."

After a few moments of comfortable, if still slightly anticipatory silence, Naruto sighed. "Too bad I gave Gaara my cards," he complained mildly. Despite herself, Sagi chuckled – giggled really.

"Oho!" Kankurou's voice crowed as he dropped out of the shadows to crouch next to Naruto. "Finally, you actually act like a pretty girl too!" He leered suggestively even as his hands moved to guide his puppet – in its Cursed Warrior costume – into the room.

Draped across one of Karasu's shoulders, Lord Komei looked entirely unhappy with this behavior toward his daimyo, but he stoically said nothing to the man who had saved his life. Glaring, Sagi brought one long sleeve up to hide her blush and moved out of her screened enclosure.

With a sharp hand gesture, Kankurou had Karasu drop the two men unceremonially to the floor, Chishima groaning faintly at the treatment. Twisting to land in a neat crouch, Lord Komei bowed his head. "Lord Sagi," he said quietly, "I am deeply sorry for this situation. I had thought I was meeting you at the temple last night, but it was only a trick by Oki."

Sagi's expression softened. "You recognized my movements," she murmured. "Yes, of course. You were the one to oversee our training, after all." She shook her head. "I am the one who owes you both an apology. However, now is the time to act – so we can claim back our country from that charlatan Oki."

Both Chishima and Komei straightened, their postures rigid in attention, and Naruto could see why. Sagi was truly a striking figure in her own right, her dark eyes sharp with determination.

Reaching into her wide sleeves, she pulled out a neatly folded paper and handed it to Komei. "That is a full pardon, with my seal on it. I have no doubt that Oki's men will try to stop you, but they will be acting outside of their legal bounds. Now, as daimyo of Bird Country, I am instructing you to conduct a full investigation into the cause of death of our previous leader, Lord Oowashi. To this end, I authorize you to enter the royal tombs."

Lord Komei and Chishima bowed, the former tucking the papers away into his robe. Having stripped Karasu of its Cursed Warrior get up and stored it away on his back, Kankurou stepped forward. "Baki-sensei went ahead to clear the way and prepare for the examination, but I'll go with you for protection," he said.

"Huh? But aren't you supposed to guard the daimyo?" Naruto asked.

Kankurou smirked. "Nope. You stay here with her, and I'll go to where the action is," he taunted. "I'm senior, while Baki-sensei isn't here, so my word is law! And anyway, you'd be useless when it comes time to look for traces of poison and the like. I'm a puppeteer, so I'm trained for that."

"Then why did Baki-sensei go ahead anyway?" Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms and sulking.

"Baki-sensei's a jounin. He's got way more skills than us genin. And he's at the mausoleum to take care of anyone Oki sends to stop us – otherwise we'd run straight into an ambush," Kankurou explained impatiently. "Now stop complaining! Gaara should get back soon, and you can have him patrol the perimeter until we get back."

Naruto stuck out his tongue as Kankurou threw Chishima over his shoulder and ran out of the daimyo's mansion, Lord Komei keeping up with him despite his age.

Watching them go, Sagi shook her head. "Ninja truly are incredibly skilled," she commented. "I had not realized that such a gap existed between those trained in ninja arts and those trained in the ways of the sword. Even though I trained my entire life, any one of you would easily defeat me."

His unhappy mood vanishing easily, Naruto laughed and ruffled his hair with an embarrassed blush. "That's not true! Those moves you pulled as the Cursed Warrior were really cool!" he denied. "But, you know, we trained our whole lives too!"

Sagi smiled faintly. "That still makes my training twice as long as yours," she pointed out.

Opening his mouth to protest, Naruto paused. He sighed instead and scratched his cheek in thought. "It's probably got to do with learning to mold chakra," he finally said. "Chakra is a kind of special energy that you can create inside your body. You can use it to do jutsus but also to make your body faster and stronger. Because shinobi learn to use chakra early and then use it all the time, they're much stronger than ordinary people."

"I see," Sagi said quietly. "It sounds very useful. I can already tell that Oki's men are sub-par compared to ninja from one of the hidden villages, but even they far outmatch our militia. Maybe when this is over, Lord Komei and I will return to that project he and Father had been working on…"

"Project?" Naruto asked, leaning forward in interest.

"Yes. Because Bird Country lies between two of the five great nations, our land has often served as a battle ground for larger conflicts. We managed to avoid the Third Great Shinobi War, but our nation was ravaged by the Second. Father and Lord Komei witnessed firsthand the power of ninja warriors, so they had thought to perhaps… train a few ninja retainers of our own – nothing on the scale of a hidden village, but a single school of loyal guardians for our land and daimyo."

Naruto nodded. "That makes sense. I remember there were a few clans in River Country who trained their own and served the daimyo independent of a hidden village," he mused. "Thinking back on it, most of them were barely chuunin level, but they beat up bandits or ordinary guards easily."

Sagi nodded. "Father and Lord Komei searched for years to try to find someone who could teach our soldiers. But we didn't dare ask for help from Earth Country, and Wind Country is very protective of all its ninja. Father and Lord Komei also didn't want to employ renegades, so their options were very limited. Then, when Oki approached my father, he thought it would be a suitable replacement. He had also hoped that Oki would take some of our militia under his tutelage, but…"

She trailed off and Naruto looked away with a thoughtful frown. Silence settled between the two, as well as a strangely heavy stillness. Closing his eyes and stretching his sense, Naruto found nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was calm, almost stagnant. His hands tingled as he flexed them.

'Something's… not right,' he thought faintly.

But he couldn't… his hands clenched as he frantically tried to understand what was wrong-

"Naruto!"

A sharp cry and a hit across his cheek jolted his mind, and Naruto gasped.

The stagnant stillness vanished instantly – instead, the room was in chaos. The Guard's green coats swarmed around him, their swords flashing in the dim light. For a moment, Naruto met Sagi's dark eyes.

'Genjutsu?' he thought frantically. 'I didn't even notice the illusion start!'

Breaking eye contact, the daimyo dodged, just barely, as Oki attacked her again.

"Get him! Quickly!" Oki roared, and Naruto spun around to see several Guards lunge for him, their swords raised to strike. Reacting with well-trained reflexes, Naruto rolled out of the way, but that moved him even further from Sagi, who warded off another wave of attackers with a skilled sweep of her sword and turned to run.

She crashed through the sliding doors and disappeared into the shadowed hall, Oki in pursuit. As Naruto tried to follow her, the green-coated Guards surrounded him and attacked again.

Drawing his blade quickly, he sent a sloppy wind attack at his attackers, scattering them momentarily. They regrouped quickly and charged again, forcing Naruto to duck away. As they advanced on him, he scowled. 'They're better than bandits, maybe even a few at low chuunin level. I don't have time for this! I have to get out here and help Sagi.'

Flipping his blade once, Naruto brought his right hand up in a seal. "_Fuusajin no Jutsu!_" (Dust Wind Technique) he yelled, swinging his blade down in a wide strike. A gust of wind tore through the room, bringing down the screens and curtains. The technique created a low level of pressure and wore away at the surroundings like sandpaper, leaving a fine layer of dust on everything.

More importantly, it gave Naruto the opportunity to dodge out of the room in the confusion. Without any time to waste, he simply used a few concentrated bursts of wind-chakra to blast through the weak walls of the mansion. Jumping out into the sunlit garden, he immediately had to roll out the way of a hail of shuriken from another group of Guards.

He didn't have time to dodge the next assault, and instead Naruto brought up his blade in hopes of blocking. But as he tensed in preparation, a wave of sand rose between him and the Guards and rolled outward, knocking over and engulfing several.

Naruto blinked in surprise. He turned slowly to see Gaara land neatly behind him, his arms crossed and face expressionless.

"Gaara! You're back!" Naruto exclaimed happily before his expression turned serious. "Can you take care of these guys? I need to hurry to help Sagi!"

Honestly, the question was more courtesy than anything. None of the Guards would be able to even come close to harming Gaara, and he had taken on worse odds before.

But none the less, Gaara nodded slowly, and Naruto gave him a grateful smile and a heartfelt thanks before rushing away.

/~/~

/~/~

Notes: Let's face it, Naruto sucks at genjutsu.

/~/~

/~/~


	5. Climb past the mountains

/~/~

/~/~

Title: New Wind Nation ~(新風国)~

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

Notes: Final chapter in the Bird Country arc. Wrap up time!

/~/~

/~/~

Approaching the mausoleum, Baki stopped suddenly as a heavyset man rose slowly out of the ground in front of him – a traditional Iwagakure jutsu.

'How nostalgic,' Baki thought with a smirk. 'My students aren't even old enough to remember the Third Great War, and I can still recollect fighting off Iwa raids in the Second.'

"This is as far as you go, shinobi," the man, in the green coat of the Guard, said slowly. "You were supposed to leave. Where is Hokushin?"

Baki's smirk widened. "Oh, did he try to follow us? Then he's dead."

The Guard lieutenant's small black eyes narrowed. "And so are you," he rumbled as his men appeared around Baki. Even surrounded, the jounin's confident smirk didn't waver.

"_Yaiba no Baki_," he drew out. The Guard tensed as he spread his hands – empty, not that it meant anything to a true wind specialist. "That is the title given to me. It's rather trite, don't you think? To be named after your best technique…"

_Kaze no Yaiba_ was his best technique; he had long since mastered it – no longer requiring hand seals, no longer limited to just one blade.

The Guards attacked in a storm of glinting steel. In an instance, they were cut down by a storm of far sharper blades.

"Wind Blade Hurricane," Baki said slowly as the bodies fell around him. "It's an original." In front of him, the lieutenant straightened, the very texture of his body different than before. He appeared to be a moving statue, carved out of gray stone. "Ah, it would seem you have some interesting tricks as well."

Narage grunted and launched himself at Baki, though the jounin dodged with ease. As the Guard rushed past, Baki brought his hand down, wrapped in wind-based chakra. _Kaze no Yaiba_, in the hands of a master, easily cut through Nagare, even with his jutsu.

There was no blood as the Guard's two neat pieces slid apart and fell to the ground. The pieces crumbled even further, leaving a scattering of stones around Baki. One of his students would have relaxed, assured of their victory, but he was an experienced soldier – the only thing that allowed him to notice the telltale buzz of chakra before the stones rose and launched themselves at him.

Slamming his fist down, Baki created a small tornado around himself – the same technique he had been trying to teach to Naruto. The stones were momentarily knocked away, and Baki thought, '_Yahumuki_. Rock Blizzard. What an annoying technique. Having temporarily taken on the properties of a rock, the user can reassemble and freely manipulate their body…'

Indeed, several of the stones melded together again, forming Nagare's smirking face in thin air. _"What now, Suna-nin? Your precious cutting wind won't have any effect on me!"_ his booming voice crowed.

'How did we deal with this?' Baki thought calmly. 'Ah, right. A Raiton technique to interrupt the transformed state.'

Baki smirked, flipping through two seals almost faster than the eye could see before clasping his hands together as if in a prayer. "I am a Fuuton specialist," he said, "but that is not all I know." As he slowly drew his hands apart, bolts of lightning danced between them. "_Raiton: Jibashi!_" (Lightning Release: Electro-magnetic Murder)

Lightning danced around him, creating a field that crackled through the air and jumped between each stone. Nagare's voice shrieked in pain as the rocks shuddered and tried to pull together, the assimilation having been interrupted. As Baki released the technique, his body dropped to the group, normal again.

The jounin approached calmly, another Wind Blade already swirling around his hand. In a single, precise strike, the battle was over.

A sharp, appreciative whistle cut through the air, and Baki turned to look at Kankurou with a faintly raised eyebrow. His student smirked, stepping out the tree cover. "Man, sensei, every time I see you in action, I'm impressed," Kankurou admitted, a smirk stretching across his face. Arrogant he may have been, but Kankurou could acknowledge strength and skill when it was so obviously shoved in his face.

Lord Komei and Chishima followed after him, the former looking over the battlefield with the eye of a veteran, the later stumbling and a little green.

"Yaiba no Baki," Lord Komei repeated. "That is a familiar name. I had not realized a shinobi of your standing had been sent."

Baki dipped his head, two old, experienced men acknowledging each other, before gesturing toward the mausoleum.

/~/~

From the daimyo's mansion, Naruto followed the trail of destruction easily. Sagi hadn't been subtle with her sword, and neither had Oki. Unfortunately, even racing toward them, he arrived too late.

Sagi wavered on her feet, her sword lowering. Seeing how unfocused her eyes were, Naruto realized she had finally been caught in a genjutsu, just as he had. Even as he called out her name, Oki darted forward and knocked the daimyo out with a single chop to the neck.

Hefting her form over his shoulder, he dodged Naruto's attack and ran again. They flickered through the trees, and Naruto grit his teeth as he realized that Oki was pulling away. Light filtered between the leaves, growing brighter until, up ahead, Oki jumped into thin air and momentarily dropped out of sight.

Following him recklessly, Naruto dropped into shallow water in surprise, his feet sinking into the mud. They had reached the shore of Lake Wataridori, on which the capital was built. Ahead, Oki had run across the water, finally stopping and turning to smirk at Naruto.

"What's the matter, Suna-nin?" he taunted. "Don't know how to swim?"

Naruto scowled fiercely in return, backing away until he was again on mostly solid ground. 'Of course I know how swim! I grew up in _River_ Country,' he thought angrily. 'But, it's a hostage situation again! What should I do?'

_"Don't hesitate or hold back. You'll only validate your opponent's position. Attack with enough force to make them defend, but still leave enough leeway to retake the hostage. Remember, your first priority is to get the liability out of the way," Baki-sensei explained after that first C-rank._

'Right,' Naruto thought to himself. 'I just have to make him drop Sagi! She's really strong, and she'll be fine, I'm sure of it!' He just hoped she could swim in those heavy clothes.

Naruto spun his blade, gathering chakra, and forcefully sent out a wide wind strike, but even as the air over the lake rippled, he could see Oki suddenly smirking as he clasped his hands together and took a deep breath.

He breathed out fire. '_Fire feeds on Wind,_' Naruto remembered suddenly as the Katon technique collided with his Fuuton and rapidly grew stronger, becoming a wall of fire. His reflex was to step back, but he knew he wouldn't be able to run fast enough. All his techniques were more wind, and Naruto wasn't sure if he could overpower that.

Instead, he fought every instinct he had and ran toward the advancing fire mass. As it towered over him, he dived a little clumsily into the shallow water, tangling in the water weeds but swimming onward.

On the surface, Oki's smirk shifted into a snarl as he saw that the Sand-nin had disappeared and quickly figured out what had happened. He looked down into the murky water between his feet, trying to catch a flash of his opponent. Holding up his hands in a seal, he smirked again as he activated a simple genjutsu.

'Gotcha!' Naruto thought triumphantly, as he burst through the surface of the water and grabbed Oki by the ankles… or at least, he thought he did. But his hands only slid through and the illusion dispersed suddenly.

His head bobbing above the water, Naruto glanced around frantically as more and more Oki illusions appeared all across the lake, all of them laughing tauntingly. Yelping and gulping half a mouthful of water, Naruto dove again as several shuriken shot at him from among the illusions.

Trailing air bubbles, Naruto thought furiously. 'I'm no good with genjutsu, and I can't dispel them. Even if I got out of the water, my Fuuton wouldn't be any good. But I can't stay in the water or try to cut down everyone of them either!'

'Fire above,' he thought vaguely, 'water below. Countering wind with fire… Countering fire with water?' He grit his teeth. 'But I don't know any water techniques! All I have is wind…'

Somehow, though, wind would have to be enough. Naruto had always been best at improvisation. His thoughts seemed almost disconnected as they clashed through his mind – wind, a sand storm, sand devils over the desert, their thin funnels twisting and swaying. Baki-sensei, slamming his fist into the ground and a tornado bursting into life around him.

Mom, her crimson whirl of Uzu no Kuni. A long time ago, by the sea, maelstroms and what had been her home.

Opening his eyes, expression intense with new determination, Naruto kicked his legs sharply. 'I won't give up,' he thought furiously.

Bursting out of the water, Naruto clasped his hands in a seal – for a moment, his eyes met Oki's as the wandering ninja smirked. A shuriken whistled by Naruto's ear, clipping his cheek as he spun, having propelled himself up with a twist. The weapon had come from behind him and several more were following it, aimed squarely at his back.

But the shuriken were deflected as a defensive wind sprang to life around Naruto. Oki – the real one, among the army illusions – narrowed his eyes and formed a seal, taking a deep breath.

"Ha!" Naruto yelled, thrusting his hands down with as much force as he could muster, throwing as much chakra as possible into the technique. The defensive whirlwind roared past its parameters, spreading out and reaching up. Its force began to churn the water beneath wildly.

Even as he released his fireball, Oki knew something had gone wrong. Instead of feeding the flames and roasting the Suna-nin alive, the wind technique dragged a wall of water up into itself and moved outward. In an instant, it burst through the illusions and engulfed Oki, pulling him off his feet and throwing him around carelessly as he lost his grip of Toki.

In the middle of the chaos, Naruto floated, buoyed by the winds of his tornado, surprised but still determined.

A moment later, his jutsu ended, and with a yelp, Naruto, the water, Oki and Sagi all fell back into the churning lake with an almighty splash. Jostled awake again, Sagi floundered for a moment before slipping out of her robes and kicking strongly.

Her head was above water for only a moment before a hand wrapped around her ankle and pulled her down again. Sagi's eyes met Oki's, the two matching glares. Then, the daimyo slammed her foot into his face. Oki released her in surprise, and Naruto rammed into him as well, distracting the man enough for Sagi to swim away.

Coughing, she stumbled onto the shore and dropped to her knees for a moment. A pair of black sandals appeared at the edge of her vision, and Sagi looked up in surprise to see Gaara staring impassively over the lake.

"Are you not going to help him?" she demanded.

Gaara's expression didn't change as he slowly slid his gaze to her. After a long moment of silence, he said quietly, "I don't like water."

Sagi stared at him for a moment until the sound of splashing made her turn around again. Climbing up to stand on top of the water, Oki looked distinctly worse for wear. With his gaze fixed beneath his feet, he didn't notice as a cloud of Gaara's sand floated up behind him and wrapped around his head and torso, lifting him up.

Gaara's outstretched hand began to close, but Sagi said quickly, "Wait!" As his flat eyes turned toward her, she repeated more calmly, "Please wait. I want him alive. He's _ours_."

The two matched stares for a moment before Gaara nodded, recognizing the promise of death and retribution in Sagi's eyes. As if sensing his fate, Oki kicked wildly as the sand carried him to shore. Stumbling out of the water next to them, Naruto just barely avoided a sandal to the face.

Turning to his teammate and the daimyo, he grinned and held out a thumbs-up.

/~/~

Watching as Sagi took a deep breath and tried to compose herself, Kankurou sighed in disappointment. 'She doesn't really look any different,' he lamented mentally. Sure, she had switched out her hat for a small crown-like hair piece and changed into slightly more feminine, flowing white robes, but Sagi was still… Sagi. Short haired, with an entirely too practical outfit beneath all the ceremony, probably hiding a dozen weapons somewhere on her person.

Kankurou smirked. 'She's no princess. But rulers shouldn't be like that anyway.'

Reaching into her sleeve, Sagi pulled out her treasured pocket watch and ran her thumb over the cover. "Ready?" Kankurou asked, pushing himself off the wall he had been leaning against.

Sagi smiled to herself and slipped the heirloom back into her pocket. "Yes, I am," she said quietly as Chishima slid open the door and bowed deeply.

"My lady," he said ceremonially, "everyone is gathered."

Outside, it seemed as if the entire population of the capital had gathered. Stepping out onto the balcony she would speak from, Sagi raised her head and allowed herself a smile. "My people," she began, "I have much to confess to you…"

A black shadow, Kankurou dropped beside the rest of team on the rooftop of nearby building. "So she's gonna admit to being a girl now?" Naruto asked, watching the daimyo with interest.

"About time," Kankurou snorted. "How much longer is this stupid mission going to last?"

"Oki's trial will take place in three days," Baki said calmly. "To give people time to absorb the changes and Lord Komei time to prepare everything. We can leave after it is done."

Kankurou grumbled under his breath as Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "Lord Komei's going to be pretty busy, huh?" he muttered to himself. "I guess I'll talk to him afterwards…"

In the square, the daimyo concluded her speech, "I hope that you will allow me to continue to lead you, as my true self, as Toki of Bird Country." Bowing her head, she waited. For a moment, the silence stretched before someone cheered, then another, and soon the crowd below roared their approval.

"Lady Toki! Lady Toki!" they chanted. "The best to you, our lady!"

Smirking, Kankurou murmured, "See? I told you."

/~/~

In a reversal of roles, Komei presided over Oki's trial and execution. "You have conspired against our nation," the strategist declared calmly as Oki was forced to his knees in front of him. "Against us, who had taken you and offered you sanctuary. You poisoned our daimyo – traces have been found in the body to prove this – you killed his child. For this, there is only one penalty. The verdict has been passed."

Oki made an unsightly display in his last moments as Komei observed impassively, flanked by the witnesses and officials. Standing, the strategist left the open court. Inside the building, he blinked in surprise to see one of the Suna-nin waiting for him. He had known they were watching, but he had not expected one to seek him out.

"Naruto, wasn't it?" Komei said, studying the short blond boy.

The boy nodded. "Could I… uh, talk to you for a moment?" he asked a little nervously.

"Of course," Komei agreed easily.

"It's about this plan you had, with Lord Oowashi," Naruto began, fidgeting. "Sagi- I mean, Toki told me about it. She said she was thinking about starting it up again and stuff - you know, the one about clan a school of ninja to protect Bird Country."

Komei nodded slowly. "Yes, I know what you are referring to. Lord Oowashi and I had wanted to train a few shinobi guards of our own… Nothing on the scale or level of skill of a hidden village, of course."

"Who would've trained them?" Naruto asked. "You don't have any ninja clans right now."

Komei sighed. "That was the greatest problem. We had begun correspondence with a few ninja who had been forced to retire due to injuries," he answered, his eyes taking on a faraway look of recollection. "They were no longer able to perform missions, but they could still train a new generation… Unfortunately, we spent years searching for the right teachers and time ran out."

"So you didn't have any prospects?" Naruto asked oddly seriously.

For a moment, Lord Komei paused in thought. "There was one young woman who had seemed a good candidate…" he began.

"Uzumaki Kushina… right?" Naruto said, reaching into his pouch to pull out a letter.

"Yes, that was the name," Komei agreed. "We exchanged several letters. She had been a Konohagakure shinobi, but retired due to an illness that ate away at her strength. She had been living in River country, but she wanted to settle down to raise a son… That would be you, then?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Uzumaki Naruto… Though in Suna, we don't use last names." He looked oddly pensive. "We went to the ocean first after leaving Fire Country but then we just traveled around River Country a lot... Then, one day, we packed up and headed for the border. Mom just said that we were going to our new home. But when we tried to cross Wind Country, Mom's condition suddenly got worse. We couldn't make it the next town and got caught in a sandstorm, and that was when a Suna patrol found me..."

"It is unfortunate," Lord Komei said quietly. "To have skill and loyalty like yours, it would be a great fortune to Bird Country."

Naruto grinned, his mood easily lightening. "Heh! Thanks! But I'm definitely a Suna-nin all the way! There's no other place that's home to me." Looking fondly at the letter for a moment, he tucked it away again and turned to go. "But if you ever need help, we'll definitely come!" he called out over his shoulder.

Tucking his hands into his sleeves, Komei watched him go thoughtfully. "Yes," he agreed to himself, "Sunagakure would be a strong ally… with such fierce will and power on their side… It will be a great new age for this world, I think."

/~/~

/~/~

Bird Country arc is over!

In any case! This arc is over! Bird Country has officially become an ally sort of place, keeping open wonderful possibilities of Naruto meeting Iwa-nin. (Can you imagine? "Konoha's Yellow Flash! Kill!" "I'm from _SUNA__!_")

As for Kushina's reasons for going to Bird Country, you should have seen them coming. Komei mentioned wanting to train shinobi back in the first part. Then, Naruto picked up the letter in part three, not to mention him and Sagi talking about it.

(In the future, there might be more discussion of how Kushina was always searching for a home. When Minato died, she no longer felt at home in Konoha, so she left. But she never found that home in River Country either…)

(I guess "home" is a major theme.)

PS: _Lament_ by Kotoko is so Sagi/Toki's theme.

/~/~

/~/~


	6. Come back home

/~/~

/~/~

Title: New Wind Nation Waking ~(新風国)~

Chapter: 6 / Come back home

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

Notes: So, boring filler chapter. But, hey, Temari cameo.

/~/~

/~/~

Although being the daimyo's personal guard sounded terribly important and exciting, in the months since her promotion and reassignment, Temari had found the actual job to be far from all it was cracked out to be.

'If I'd known it would be this frustrating, I would have thought twice about accepting,' Temari grumbled mentally. 'I would have still taken it, of course. We _need_ this… but I wouldn't have wasted my enthusiasm on it.'

Scanning the room – still thoroughly and professionally – and finding no threats, Temari allowed herself to look out the open veranda that took the place of one of the walls. Beyond stretched a clear blue-green lake, dotted with white birds and framed by distant misty hills. 'At least the view is nice,' she thought. 'Bird Country really is beautiful.'

The screen doors at the other end of the room slid open, and the entourage of Bird Country's daimyo began to file in. Temari mentally compared them to the files she had been given, updated after the recent mission there. 'Advisor Komei, aide Chishima, and of course, the daimyo Lady Toki…'

Like her country, Toki was tranquilly beautiful as she glided into the meeting room and offered the Wind daimyo a polite smile. "It is an honor to meet you, Lord, and to have your presence in our humble country," Toki said, nodding in greeting.

"No, no," the Wind daimyo insisted, gesturing with his folded fan. "The honor is ours, to visit such a beautiful and peaceful place." He paused, tapping the fan against his chin. "Though, we have heard that it has not been so peaceful of late."

'That nosey manipulative geezer,' Temari thought uncharitably. 'It's exactly that kind of stupid, pointless power game that put Sunagakure in such a horrible position.'

"Yes, we faced a trying ordeal," Toki agreed placidly. "Trying ordeal" was one way to describe losing your father and your brother, then crossdressing to take his place, and finally posing as a vengeful spirit to rampage across your own capital.

The Wind daimyo tutted. "Terrible business, that, being betrayed by your own shinobi. But such is the outcome of ambition growing beyond bounds."

"Misdirected ambition can be a terrible thing," Toki demurred. "However, we were blessed with a clean resolution – all thanks to the shinobi of Sunagakure."

"Oh?" the Wind daimyo drew out, his dark eyebrows rising.

Toki's smile became warmer, more real than any expression Temari had seen on her. "Yes, if only we of Bird Country could claim such loyal, noble warriors. Wind Country is truly blessed." Still smiling, Toki locked eyes with the other leader, her gaze proud and fierce. "It would be the greatest honor to hold alliance with those possessing such spirit."

The Wind daimyo's hand lowered and his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Certainly, it is as you say," he muttered. Snapping open his fan suddenly, he added, "Might we know the names of these great shinobi?"

"They were a squad of four, led by jounin Yaiba no Baki. The other three were his students – Kankurou, Naruto and Gaara."

Starting imperceptibly, Temari stared at the Lady Daimyo in surprise. '_They_ were the ones? I can't believe it.' Looking away, she smirked faintly. 'Sounds like I've missed a lot. I wonder if it isn't time for a visit back home…'

/~/~

In the very heart of Sunagakure, within the familiar landmark of the administration building's main 風~wind~ dome, the advisory council of those Hidden in the Sand gathered, watched over by the stone eyes of the previous Kages' statues.

'This much old and wrinkle-ness in one place should be illegal,' Baki thought, taking his place at the circular table. He smirked faintly, the expression thankfully hidden by is scarf and the perpetual gloom of the room. 'Or so Naruto would say. Who would have thought that a no-name, common-blood foreigner brat would make such an impression?'

The eleven council members rose, heads lowered respectfully, as the Kazekage strode in. Only after he had taken his seat, flanked by two guards, did they resume theirs and begin the meeting.

"The daimyo's trade negotiations with Bird Country are going well, and we have broached the possibility of setting up a patrol along their border with Earth. The number of mission requests has also increased slightly, possibly to rise more in the future," one councilor reported.

The council members exchanged glances. "Overall, this mission was successful beyond expectations," one summarized, studying the Kazekage's reaction carefully. Wrapped in the white and blue robes of his office, the man was inscrutable, his face hidden by the square hat and the mask he had taken to wearing.

On bad days, Baki thought the Kazekage acted as if the world was too full of polluting filth to tolerate, as if one breath of their unclean air would be fatal.

"According to Temari's report, the new daimyo even put in a good word for us," another councilor commented, his voice wry with the dry humor Baki remembered from serving under the man in the war. "It seems he's finally recollected our existence – and our potential. He has scheduled a 'visit', ostensibly to congratulate us." The old warrior smiled, a little gruesomely as the scar across his face shifted. "These last brats of yours are something, Baki."

Baki smirked. "They're certainly _something_, but they've got a long way to go before they can claim to be true ninja."

For the first time since the meeting started, the Kazekage shifted, his robes rustling faintly. "Oh? Gaara as well?" he said tonelessly, his sly eyes pinning Baki.

There was a heavy silence as Baki considered his answer. "Gaara… continues to display signs of instability and influence by Shukaku. However, he is capable of following straight-forward instructions and generally distinguishes between enemies, allies and civilians."

"In other words, there is no change, and it remains almost entirely useless," the Kazekage said sharply.

Uncomfortable but unwilling to protest, Baki looked away. 'Gaara _has_ improved,' he thought. 'He is no longer as needlessly confrontational and it has been weeks since he killed anyone that wasn't an enemy or an assassin.' But that sort of argument would only enrage the Kazekage, so Baki kept his peace.

Instead, he said, "On the subject of Gaara, my other student Naruto has been asking about the nature of his situation. Kankurou is already aware of the details, and I feel it would be best to explain to Naruto as well."

"Is it really wise to share such information with a genin, and a foreigner no less?" one of the councilors protested.

"Naruto is a shinobi of Sunagakure, who has preformed his duties faithfully and without fault," Baki said sternly, mentally adding, 'more or less'. "He is also the one who has to deal with Gaara in the field. Keeping this information from him hinders and endangers my team."

Leaning forward, the Kazekage said, "Very well. Explain it to him. And then, we shall test how this information _helps_ your team."

/~/~

Since their first mission together, Naruto and Gaara had made a habit of regularly having a nice plate of gizzard together. At first, Naruto had taken their portions to go, but after a particularly tiring mission (to him anyway; Gaara had looked exactly the same as always), Naruto had asked Gaara to just go with him and eat at the food stall.

The poor owner had paled dangerously at the sight of Gaara and given Naruto a ridiculous discount. Feeling bad he had put the difference into a generous tip. Even now, several peaceful visits later, the owner continued to cower away from Gaara and practically give the food away for free.

Lost in thought, Naruto jumped in surprise as, next to him, Gaara suddenly said, "The food is no good." The poor owner squeaked in terror, and Naruto stared in surprise. "You're not eating."

Naruto hastened to reassure his friend. "It's not that! I guess I'm just too preoccupied to eat. Here!" He slid his untouched meal toward Gaara. "Go ahead!"

Watching Naruto closely, Gaara picked up one of the proffered skewers. The two sat in silence as Naruto flipped through the small notebook in his hands.

"It's like this," he finally said, "remember I told you about my mom's travel log? She wrote about all the places we visited in it. I think she did it for me, to leave me something to remember her by." He looked up at the sky. "Last mission, I said I'd continue it and write about all the new places I see as a shinobi, but somehow… I just haven't been able to add anything at all."

Dropping his head, he studied the journal in his hands. 'I just don't get it. It shouldn't be any different from talking to Mom,' he thought, frowning. 'But then, I haven't done that in a while either!' His eyes widened at the realization. 'Am I… forgetting about Mom?'

Naruto shook his head sharply. 'No way! There's no way I'd forget Mom!' Gingerly, he placed a hand on his chest, over the red spiral he thought of as "Uzumaki." 'But recently I've missed her a little less. Is it because I've been busy as a shinobi? Or is it…'

Turning to glance over his shoulder at Gaara, Naruto froze as he found his teammate much closer than expected – practically nose-to-nose, with Gaara's unwavering stare burning into him.

"Gaah!" Naruto gasped, making a shocked face and trying to scoot back, only to fall off the edge of the bench. "G-Gaara! What?" he squawked from the dirt.

Gaara drew back a little, his expression not really changing but somehow… annoyed? Squinting, Naruto tilted his head – it didn't help much, though.

"Don't ignore me," Gaara said flatly, his eyes narrowing a little. "Keep your eyes on me."

Standing up and dusting off, Naruto gave him a warm smile. 'Yeah, it's definitely this. It's because I'm not alone anymore.' "You got it!" he agreed. Laughing, he added, "Don't worry! Lately, I'm always thinking about you anyway!"

Gaara's empty expression didn't really change, but Naruto recognized the mood, the one that came up when he did something particularly odd. For several long moments, Gaara stared at him with the same look before suddenly blinking and looking away over his shoulder.

Turning to check what had caught his attention, Naruto saw a kunoichi – a few years older than them, blonde, in dark blue, with a large weapon behind her back. She was watching them with a fierce, focused look – like a merchant and a tree of money.

Like something unbelievable, too good to be true, and very, very tempting.

Naruto beamed and waved.

Shaking away her surprise, the kunoichi approached cautiously. "Temari," Gaara greeted her tonelessly, apparently neither happy nor sad. And more important, not angry.

"Hello, Gaara. It's been a while," she replied a little gruffly. "I'm Temari, Gaara's older sister. And you must be his new teammate."

"Yup! I'm Naruto!" he grinned. Pausing, he added, "No! Instead, call me… _Uzu no Naruto_!"

Temari's eyebrow twitched. "That's rather presumptuous, isn't it?" she ground out.

"Pres-um…? Well, anyway, I'll become famous by that name, so you better just get used to it now!" Naruto declared boldly.

Scowling, Temari demanded, "And just what's with that name? For that mark?" Her eyes slid to the red spiral on his shirt, her nose wrinkling at the bright orange color of his down-time clothes.

"This," he said, patting the whirl, "is my mark! I will carve it into the sky and the earth – with my own technique, _Uzu no jutsu!_"

"Eh? Never heard of it," Temari said, crossing her arms. "Uzu… Are you a water type? How unfortunate, in a desert…"

"I'm wind!" Naruto protested. "And it's my own design! … Though I just started working on it…"

Temari gave him a look of mild disgust and turned away, her expression quickly changing to uneasy. "Gaara… I'm going to be back home for the next few day… ah…" She trailed off, not really sure what to say, or even why she'd said anything in the first place. 'I was just going to watch for a bit,' she thought uncomfortably. 'I didn't even intend for him to notice me…'

"Welcome home," Naruto said automatically. Eyes widening, he asked, "Does that mean you've been gone a while on a mission? You're a chuunin, right?"

"It's good to be back," Temari replied, surprised. Gaara looked between them with an oddly focused expression. "Yes, I was on Kankurou's team before being promoted last exam. I am now serving with the daimyo's personal guard." Smirking, she couldn't help boast, "He requested me personally after seeing my performance."

"Wow! That's so cool! Congratulations, belatedly!" Naruto cheered enthusiastically. "You must be really strong!" As Temari preened almost unwillingly under his praise, Naruto squinted his eyes in thought. "Oh!" he declared suddenly. "Maybe _you_ could help me! Help me with my technique, Temari-nee-san!"

"Huh?" Temari stared in surprise by the sudden turn in conversation.

There were arguably three things in life Naruto was serious about – one of them was training. Sensing an opportunity, he went on the offensive. "That's right! Kankurou said you're a really strong Wind Release user! I bet you know a lot about techniques! Please, Temari-nee-san!" Clasping her hands in his own, Naruto advanced, begging shamelessly.

Temari stammered a little in pure shock and glanced around – how many people were staring at this spectacle? – her eyes catching Gaara's flat gaze. She froze, not entirely sure what she was sensing from her volatile younger brother.

"Don't call me 'nee-san'!" Temari protested as her mind scrambled and refused to cooperate. "We're not family, you know!" For some reason, her eyes turned to Gaara again.

"You got it, Temari-senpai!" Naruto chirped. Pulling her along by the hand, he went on, "I know a great training ground we can use! Gaara, you'll come too, right?"

Gaara nodded and followed wordlessly, even as Temari tried to protest ineffectually. 'I didn't even really agree!' she fumed, but the persistent cold sweat on the back of her neck, which she had long since come to associate with Gaara's presence and his eternal threat, made it clear she had little real choice.

/~/~

Sunagakure no Sato was built inside a deep canyon, surrounded by high rock walls on all sides. The only way in or out of the village without scaling those cliffs was a narrow path carved into the stone and guarded at all times.

The training ground Naruto led them to was Number 26, on a terrace about a third of the way up the cliff. It was very ordinary, as Suna training grounds went – strange, violent rock formations dotting a dry, open space.

"Well, then, here goes!" Naruto yelled, running into a wide clearing, and unsheathed his knife. Raising it up, he spun it to gather chakra and made a seal with his other hand. "_Uzu no-!_"

"Stop!" Temari ordered, making him stumble in surprise. "If we're doing this, we'll do it right! Go from the top and show me what you know!"

"Huh?" Naruto stared in surprise before saluting. "Yes, ma'am!"

Flipping his knife into a backhand hold, he gathered his chakra and released a concussive blast. The rock formation he had been aiming at cracked and collapsed, shards and dust flying.

"That's the first thing Baki-sensei taught me!" Naruto said brightly. "This is the second!"

Gathering his chakra again but wielding it differently, he sent a blade of wind at the large boulder next to his previous target. A deep gash carved into the middle of it, surprisingly neat – Naruto had actually practice quite a bit.

"That's _Fuuton: Kazegen no jutsu_ (Wind Release: Wind Fist Technique) and _Fuuton: Kazeha no jutsu_ (Wind Edge)," Temari corrected. "They're standard techniques for wind users. Don't you even know the names?"

Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't think the names were important!" he protested. "They're really lame anyway."

"They're both D-rank," Temari continued, pointedly ignoring him. "_Kazegen_ creates a repelling blast of wind, radius about five feet, range about a dozen. _Kazeha_ creates a single blade, though it can barely cut through armor and definitely not bone. Range is about two dozen feet."

Naruto shrugged. "Well, Baki-sensei taught me the sand and the shield ones next." To demonstrate, he sent a wide blast of wind at the remains of the two previous targets. The wind raged for a few moments, wearing the rocks down and covering them in a layer of fine sand.

As it subsided, Temari nodded. "That's C-rank. _Fuuton: Fuusaji no jutsu_ (Dust Wind). It's a good defensive technique, since it can deflect projectiles, confuse enemies and even deal mild damage." She reached over her shoulder and pulled her weapon, opening it to reveal a giant battle fan with three purple stars. "Now, I prefer a combination of defense and offense, a versatile technique," Temari explained with a dangerous smirk forming on her lips.

Driven by battle-honed instincts and a fine-tuned sense of self-preservation, Naruto frantically molded chakra even as she gracefully, swiftly drew back her fan and swung. Wild, cutting wind erupted over the training ground, Temari's voice proclaiming, "_Kamaitachi no Jutsu!_"

"Ha!" Thrusting out his sword, Naruto just barely managed to activate his defensive tornado before Temari's cutting wind reached him. The two techniques clashed violently, carving deep swerving tracks in the ground before dying away just as suddenly.

"What was that?" Naruto demanded, pointing his sword at the chuunin.

Temari ignored him. "Not bad," she allowed. "_Fuuton: Fuukan no jutsu_ (Wind Barrier) is a good defensive technique that protects from all sides by rotating the air around you, but keep in mind that it has several draw backs. Also, if you use it too much, you can suffocate."

Fully prepared to continue complaining, Naruto paused in surprise. "What? Really?"

"It's basically a tornado, with you in the center. The rotation pulls the oxygen inside the funnel upward, so if you keep it up too long, all the air will be gone," Temari explained. "It's no use against lightning or earth techniques, and it doesn't do that well against water either." Seeing Naruto's expression of deep concentration, she added, "Naturally, anything wind is bad against fire."

"So… it's only good against stuff like shuriken and other wind techniques?" Naruto concluded. "Oh, and I used it against some people attacking me too."

"Well, I guess if you force more chakra into it, _Fuukan_ can push away an enemy attacking you directly," Temari admitted. "But _Fuukan_ is very inefficient in terms of chakra usage overall, so most shinobi don't do that."

Naruto rocked back on his heels, trying to remember and understand what she told him. "Okay, I guess. I'll keep it in mind. But, you know, this one – _Fuukan_ – is what gave me the idea for my _Uzu no jutsu_!"

Raising an eyebrow, Temari crossed her arms and drawled, "Aright, then, let's see it."

"Alright! Prepare yourself!" Naruto declared, gesturing dramatically with his blade. "Merging heaven and earth, _Uzu no jutsu!_"

Whatever Temari had expected, this was not it.

An instance of stillness, and suddenly the world seemed to tremble. A strong funnel of wind sprang to life around Naruto, with enough force to lift not just a storm of dust but even the genin himself into the air. This was the part inspired by _Fuukan_, Temari catalogued to herself.

Instead of subsiding, the tornado quickly widened in radius, rushing outward from the center. But that alone wasn't what made Temari's eyes widen in surprise. Just behind the dust raised in the tornado wind, the ground cracked and crumbled all around Naruto, and the pieces were dragged into the air and spun – in the opposite direction.

'What… what is that?' Temari thought, shocked and maybe just a little horrified. 'I don't even-!'

Lowering her head against the raging dust wind, Temari jumped away onto a cluster of rocks – she didn't feel particularly safe in the face of a spinning tornado of boulders and sharp stones. Although his expression and stance didn't change a bit, Gaara's sand wavered around his feet, occasionally darting up to guard against a stray stone or a blast of wind.

The technique – so called – subsided just as suddenly as it started, a shower of sharp rocks falling to the ground. Temari surveyed the scene of devastation left behind. In the middle, Naruto had landed neatly on a small cluster of boulders raised up like a pedestal, waving cheerfully to her. Around him, the empty training ground had been completely torn up and overhauled, in an effect almost like a very, very violent Doton.

And to top it off, the jagged rocks sticking up toward the sky actually fell into a rough spiral pattern.

For a long moment, she didn't even know where to start. "Why would you even do that?" she finally demanded, rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"But, but! It looks _really cool_," Naruto explained sulkily. "And it'd do lots of damage, right?"

"You… No, never mind. I'm not even going to try," Temari muttered in exasperation. "I think I can see what you did there. You use three consecutive concentric spirals of wind. One circling upward, one plowing downward, and another one up, but in the opposite direction. The first wave lifts what the second destroys, and the third pushes it back down, kind of…"

To her increasing frustration, Naruto regarded her a little blankly as he nodded. "Sure, I guess. I dunno," he said, shrugging, "I just do what feels right. I want to hit all the enemies around me really hard, even if I can't tell exactly where they are, and I want it to be effective against Katon too."

"Well, I suppose you'd be successful there," Temari admitted. "It would probably be effective against Iwa-nin especially. Still, it's so wasteful and inelegant. That's not how you should use Fuuton at all," she complained.

They both jumped down from their perches, carefully picking their way out of the devastated area. "Fuuton is about sharpness – a blade finer than any physical weapon," Temari lectured, glaring a little. "Using to crush and force like that is just…" She couldn't even find words.

Huffing, Naruto crossed his arms and turned away. "You just don't appreciate how awesome I am!" he protested. "I can be all precise and elegant when I want to! But there's nothing wrong with having a super-powerful destructive technique too! It's good to be versatile!"

"Wow, that's a big word," Temari intoned. 'To be honest, I can't really protest too much,' she thought, chagrined. 'I use _Kamaitachi_ as a wide-range low-impact defense technique all the time, instead of focusing it to be more precise and damaging.'

Naruto stuck out his tongue and abruptly turned toward Gaara. "I bet you could make a really big awesome move with your sand, right?" he asked. Gaara seemed to consider silently for a few moments before nodding. Turning back to Temari, Naruto grinned victoriously. "See? _And_ he can do awesome stuff like defend against attacks too!"

"It's automatic," Gaara said flatly. "The sand protects me through Mother's will."

Naruto paused, momentarily thrown. "Um. So, it's not up to you?" he tried to understand. "I guess that's pretty neat… But I don't really get it. I haven't seen anybody else who can control sand either. Is it a special bloodline? Like, mixing earth and wind, or something?"

"You don't know?" Temari wondered, surprised. "It's because…" She trailed off, shooting a glance toward Gaara. "Suna doesn't have any bloodlines like that. Gaara is unique," she said instead.

"Well, that's… really cool!" Naruto said, trying to steer away from a subject that set everyone on edge. "If you're the only who can do it, that means you get to name it and all your techniques too! I bet you chose something really cool, right, Gaara?"

Gaara regarded Naruto without any expression. "I did not name any of it," he said.

"You should," Naruto insisted. "And then when you become famous, everyone will have to use the names you chose. They might even name _you_ the way you like! Otherwise, you might end up with something lame."

Temari snorted. "The bandits are already whispering about Gaara, you know," she said. "Gaara from the Desert, they say. Like a vengeful demon from the sands."

"Hm… That's kinda lame," Naruto decided. "But it's kind of cool too. I can't really decide."

/~/~

Shinobi didn't have graves, not really, because they didn't bury people. Bodies carried secrets, so all shinobi were cremated, not just the rogue ones. And in a Hidden Village, that practice was automatically extended to all the deceased, even the ones who died before ever stepping foot in Suna.

Naruto didn't know what had happened to his mother's ashes. He generally tried not to think about it too much. And since she was just some foreigner, no one except her son had cared enough to set up a memorial marker "grave".

After he finally understood that she wasn't coming back, Naruto had made one himself – just a large, uneven stone set upright, a barely legible name carved into it. **_Uzumaki KUSHINA_**. He had even planted some desert shrubs and cactuses around the marker.

At first, some children (and even some adults) had tried to vandalize it, but Naruto, then half-feral with grief and lacking any respect for authority, had bit, clawed and destroyed property enough to make them rethink. At one point, he had even taken to sleeping next to the marker, instead of going back to the barracks. It had been a place of comfort, where he felt closest to his mother, before he learned to carry her spirit everywhere with him.

Now, Naruto brushed some sand off the stone, which had been worn down almost smooth under his hand, and smiled at the flowers on one cactus. It was the end of spring – Wind Country's most beautiful season.

"Hi, Mom," Naruto murmured, "It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry. How are you? I hope you're together with Dad and happy."

Taking a deep breath, he said, "When we went to Bird Country, I was really surprised. You were really going to settle down and make a new home for, away from everything…" Naruto trailed off, biting his lip unhappily. "Mom, I'm sorry," he blurted out finally. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you said so. And… I'm sorry I made you do it.

"I'm sorry I threw such a tantrum back then. I was just so tired of always moving from place to place, always being the outsider. It just felt like you were trying to find something that didn't exist anymore, like it was more important to you than us as a family and our future. I should have understood what it meant to you.

"If I hadn't been so selfish back then, if I hadn't made you promise to stop looking and settle down, we would have never gone into the desert in the first place. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry…"

For a few moments, he studied the grave silently. "I don't know if you'd be happy with me," Naruto admitted. "But Suna is my home now, and I'm going to do my best to live like you taught me – with loyalty, determination, and hope."

_It felt almost like a goodbye._

/~/~

/~/~

Notes:

**What about Wave Country/Haku/Zabuza?** You have no idea how much I wanted to use Wave Country and Haku, but there's really no way to justify it. Sand is… far from there. I guess I also like having to work so hard at planning how these missions go. Even Bird Country didn't really go like the anime, mostly because I thought the ending was stupid.

**What about the Kyuubi? **I'm honestly tempted to just say that the Fourth was marginally more kickass, marginally nicer or marginally more shortsighted in this AU and just killed the entire Kyuubi with the Death God, plain and simple. Sucks for Akatsuki, but hey, tough luck.

(Also, that makes me want to write a story where they use a ritual to reverse the Death God seal and bring back the Kyuubi … and Minato. But that's just my love for Minato and Naruto stories showing.)

Some of this is really fishy, especially the scene with Naruto and Gaara. I… I don't even know why the dialogue came out like that. There are no pairings in this. None. I managed to incorporate the stuff about jutsu into the actual story, so I erased the author's note in ch. 5.

/~/~

Next time: Baki tells Naruto about Shukaku. Ha, ha, ha…. It'll be a very screwing filler chapter too, mostly internal reflections of characters about each other, I think. I have the actual mission planned out, but I'm not sure what to put in ch. 7.

/~/~

/~/~


	7. Break into the secrets

/~/~

/~/~

Title: New Wind Nation ~(新風国)~

Chapter: 7 / Break into the secrets

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

/~/~

/~/~

_"Happy Birthday! Congratulations, Naruto!" Mother says. Her long red hair whispers as she leans in. Her smile is wide and open._

_It's just the two of them around the tiny table, peering at the tiny cake with its single candle. The flame wavers. Naruto loves Mother, but somehow this doesn't feel like it's enough. _

_"No one else came," he mumbles. "Even though I invited them…"_

_Mother continues to smile. Naruto thinks she might be lying. "Time to blow out the candle!" she says brightly. "Deep breath!"_

_When Naruto puffs out and blows, it seems more like a giant sigh. Mother claps and cheers. "Now, make a wish!" she encourages. Naruto's lip trembles._

_"I wish we had a real home," he says. Mother becomes still suddenly, and he almost wants to take it back. But the words won't stop coming out now. "I wish we'd stop moving around. I wish you'd just find a place good enough and-!"_

_He sniffles, and it's embarrassing. He's six, not a baby anymore. _

_Mother is silent, and Naruto is sorry now. She hasn't been feeling well and this is so important to her. But he just can't stop being selfish. Tears well up in his eyes and roll down his cheeks._

_"We'll find it soon," she says quietly._

_"Liar!" Naruto yells. "You always say that! You always say we need to find a place just right! What's wrong with here? Nowhere's right 'cause we never stay anywhere long! We always just keep looking and looking! You, you said it was gone anyway! It's not coming back! We're never gonna find it!"_

_"Naruto…" Mother begins, reaching for him._

_But he doesn't want her to comfort him. He wants a promise. He jumps off his chair and scrambles for the door. He runs outside_ but it's not River Country, like it should be. It's the desert. It's Suna. Sniffling and rubbing the tears from his eyes, Naruto turns slowly to look back. He sees the tiny house they stayed in, but its features are blurred in his memory. It has no meaning. It was never home.

Mother is in the doorway, her face in shadow, but he can see her smile.

"You found it. Congratulations, Naruto," she says. "Now, protect it, and love it with all your heart."

/~/~

Naruto woke up with dirt in his mouth. 'What a weird dream,' he thought. 'It started like a memory, but then… Must be because I visited Mom's grave yesterday.' Sitting up, he made a face and sneezed. As his started to look around, his gaze caught another and he froze, staring in surprise.

"Um, good morning? Gaara?" Naruto greeted, somewhat hesitantly, his thoughts still muddled. "What happened? I was training last night… and I guess I just fell asleep here…"

"Here" being training ground 26. The entire landscape of the area had been rearranged by Naruto's efforts, resembling an Iwa war zone.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, pulling himself out of his thoughts and standing up.

Gaara rose from his crouch as well, giving no indication how long he had remained in the position. "Baki wants to see us," he said.

"Did he send you to find me?" Naruto wondered. "When was that?"

"At eight."

"But it's past noon."

"…"

Understandably, Baki was not impressed when they finally arrived at the designated meeting place, but he didn't risk saying anything either. No matter how tolerant Gaara had been recently, berating him would mean death, he was certain.

Glaring, even Kankurou held his tongue.

"We have a new mission, B-rank," Baki said shortly. "We leave tomorrow at first light for River Country. According to the employers, Kiri missing-nin Raiga Kurosuki has taken control of a mining town and killed several miners. Our job will be to free the town and take care of Kurosuki, to collect the bounty on his head."

"B-rank? That's so cool!" Naruto exclaimed, bouncing a little. "We're awesome! I'll be ready, sensei!" He gave a thumbs-up to Gaara, while Kankurou scowled darkly. 'Though, going back to River Country, I'm not really that excited about that,' he thought privately, his grin not wavering at all.

"Aren't they just looking to see how Gaara does against someone higher up? What rank is this Kiri-nin?" Kankurou asked quietly, moving closer to Baki as Naruto chattered at Gaara.

"Unclear. Either high chuunin or a jounin, former hunter-nin," Baki replied in an undertone. There was no point in denying Kankurou's correct assumptions. As the puppet user scowled and walked away, Baki called out, "Naruto! Stay behind!"

Gaara's gaze lingered on them before he departed as well, making Baki suppress a shiver. As always, Naruto seemed entirely immune to the sense of danger his teammate radiated, though at this point, Baki was honestly starting to wonder.

"What is it, sensei? Are you going to teach me something cool?" Naruto asked, bounding up to his teacher.

"No," Baki replied slowly. "It's about the question you asked me after the last mission. It has been decided that you will be given the truth about Gaara."

/~/~

They moved to a small deserted courtyard. Checking once more to make sure there were no eavesdroppers, Baki began, "After the Third Shinobi War, Sunagakure was severely weakened. We had gone into the war in search of the missing Sandaime Kazekage, and we came out with no gains and no leader. Because of what he saw as a pointless slaughter we had precipitated, the new daimyo started trying to limit the power of the village by hiring foreign shinobi, thus cutting off the flow of money to Suna."

He paused, thinking back on those days. Now, in hindsight, he could see how it had all spiraled into decay and the horrible weakness of the present. 'Losing the Third, we lost direction,' Baki thought with a bitter frown. 'Losing the war, we lost our pride, our drive… We got scared and rushed to install a new Kazekage. And look where that got us…'

Instead, he said, "The newly appointed Fourth Kazekage tried to boost the village's prestige by creating stronger shinobi. One such experiment was Gaara."

"Experiment?" Naruto repeated, his tone not angrily indignant like Baki expected. It held a sort of building disappointment, like something that had been suspected but ignored.

He would have learned eventually. Baki continued, "Gaara is a _jinchuuriki_. Inside him is a demon, the One-Tailed Shukaku. It should have been a source of near limitless chakra and the ability to control sand, a perfect weapon. However, Shukaku negatively affects Gaara's mind. It speaks to him, influences him. If Gaara sleeps, it devours his mind and comes to the surface."

The gap between their expectations and the result was almost insurmountable. The council never discussed it because that only led to rounds of recriminations. Had the previous generations simply not recorded the truth about their jinchuuriki? Had Chiyo-sama made a mistake? Privately, Baki thought Gaara hadn't actually spoken to or heard Shukaku before the incident with his uncle, though he had always been unable to sleep.

Naruto was staring at Baki a little blankly, like the words were a foreign language or some strange code.

"Gaara is a failed weapon," Baki said bluntly. "He's dangerous. Unstable."

As if yanked out of deep thought, Naruto blinked and shook his head. "You're saying… I don't understand," he said, frustration building in his voice. "Gaara has a demon in him? Then, when 'Mother' wants blood, that's the demon?" He scowled, his voice becoming hard and angry. "Why does Gaara call it 'Mother' then? And why did Gaara say his mother was sacrificed?"

It seemed Naruto already expected the answer, and he didn't like it at all.

"To seal a demon, the sacrifice of a soul is needed," Baki explained, refusing to show any sign of emotion or opinion. It had been the Kazekage's decision. It had been for the good of Suna. "The sealing was performed while Gaara was still inside his mother's womb and she died while giving birth to him, becoming a sacrifice to the demon."

He paused, not entirely sure how to explain the rest. He wasn't even sure about the truth, in that regard. "Most likely… Gaara calls it 'Mother' because it protects him and talks to him. He has never known his mother…"

Naruto was glaring now, making sharp gestures with his hands in agitation. "So he's wrong? It's just a monster, using him? Why are you just letting it lie to him?"

"He believes it more than he believes me," Baki said simply. "If I tell him, he'll kill me."

"That's wrong. That's definitely wrong." Naruto shook his head sharply.

Baki could see where his thoughts were going. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "You can't tell him either. He'll kill you too."

"Sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "You-you have to do something! _We_ have to do something! It's not right!"

"It's not that simple." Baki stared at his student, watching him practically vibrate with tension and indignation. "You're … too accepting about this. Do you really understand what I told you?"

"No! Of course not!" Naruto retorted instantly. "How can I understand something like that? You say Gaara's got a demon in him. It lets him control sand and protects him. Those things I can understand, maybe. But there's nothing I can do about that!"

Naruto shook his head again. "Gaara kills people a lot. I know that! I'm not stupid. He's dangerous. He could attack me too. I see that. But what am I supposed to do? Gaara is my teammate. He's my friend! He listens to me and eats fried gizzard with me and helps me on missions! That's true too!"

"What are you getting at?" Baki asked, but even as he spoke, it was becoming clear. 'He acknowledges that Gaara is a dangerous weapon, but to him, Gaara is also a friend… a human being.'

"What am I supposed to do?" Naruto demanded again. "If I get scared, how is that going to help anything? If I stop being Gaara's friend, that'll just make both of us sad and hurt. So if you tell me that Gaara has a demon in him, all I can do is keep being his friend. And friends don't let friends be controlled and misled."

"Naruto, if you try to argue with him, Gaara will kill you," Baki repeated his warning.

Naruto's shoulders slumped, but his expression remained resolute. "Sensei," he began, "sensei, I really respect you, you know. You're amazingly strong, and you're always calm and patient. You're the first person in this village who really listens to what I say. Sensei, if you say that it'll be alright if I just let Gaara be, I'll believe you." His sky-blue eyes locked with Baki's, his gaze fierce and piercing. "But, sensei, I don't think that's the case."

'What an annoying brat,' Baki thought, looking away with a frown. 'I didn't even want to become a teacher, but someone had to do it. Most jounin don't recognize the difference between a student and a subordinate. They act as if we're in wartime, when we sent green genin out on the field and hoped they lived long enough to learn something. They forget that no matter how much potential they have, brats like that need to be guided and coddled until they mature. That is the duty of a teacher…'

He smirked, an ugly expression that made Naruto draw back a little. 'I accepted it because I was one of the few that could. And now you're throwing that responsibility in my face?'

"You've still got a lot to learn," Baki said. "Just rushing in without thinking or planning – it's like I haven't taught you anything at all. If you go up to Gaara now and tell him, 'That voice in your head you call Mother is just a demon lying to you,' he'll kill you. That's the truth. Don't forget how much Suna spent on you, keeping you alive and teaching you. Don't forget how much effort I've put into training you. Don't waste that."

Naruto drew away, his face twisting with confusion and frustration. "I won't," he grumbled. Hopping from foot to foot, he finally bowed and said, "See you tomorrow, sensei." Excusing himself, he hurried away.

Watching him go, Baki could only shake his head. 'I almost thought he was some kind of moron, but it seems he understood what Gaara is like from the start. He just acted like it didn't matter because it seemed the best option.'

"What an annoying brat. I hope he doesn't die," he muttered to himself.

/~/~

The sun was setting when Naruto finally found Gaara at one of the training grounds, this one high up on the cliffs, overlooking the village. Gaara's sand moved in strange, aimless patterns, seemingly without any direction from him. But as Naruto approached, the sand dropped and Gaara turned to face him.

"Hey," Naruto greeted, uncharacteristically subdued and skittish. He shifted from foot to foot and glanced around before fixing his gaze on the panorama of Sunagakure. Everything was dyed red in the sunset, the shadows deep between the domes.

"You know," he began again as Gaara moved to stand next to him, "my mom… she hated Suna. She… was always focused on the past, and she couldn't forgive Suna for… ruining her home. She told me, she only ever forgave Konohagakure no Sato because of my dad. She loved him so much he made her forget all about it, so when he died…"

Naruto trailed off, sneaking a glance at Gaara from under his bangs. His teammates face was completely impassive, as if Naruto wasn't revealing something that could get him dragged off for interrogation or at least earn him a great deal of suspicion.

Feeling his gaze, Gaara turned to look at him as well, their eyes meeting.

"Anyway," Naruto continued, his voice a little stronger, "I don't know what she'd think about this. About me being a Suna shinobi. But… So… I try to remember the other things about her. How she taught me to always be loyal to my home. How kind and determined she was. How… she could forgive. How much she loved me. Those are the important things that she taught me, and they're an important part of me now. They're always going to be a part of me."

Looking back across the village, Naruto smiled. "Since Mom died, I was always thinking about her. What she would think about this or that, what she would have done here or there. But recently… not so much. I was scared at first, but now I realize – it's not that I'm forgetting her. It's that I've grown. I met Baki-sensei, Kankurou… and you. You've all become part of me too. So now, I go against what Mom would have thought or done, because I'm not her. There is more to me than just her now."

He swallowed a little heavily, tears stinging his eyes all of a sudden. "That's natural," Naruto said thickly. "That's what it means to live. That's what it means… to have a future."

For several long moments, they were both silent. Surreptitiously, he rubbed away his tears.

Suddenly, Naruto laughed. "Haha! I'm just going on about nonsense, aren't I? I don't even know what I'm saying." Turning to Gaara, he smiled honestly. "Thanks, for putting up with me. You're a good listener… and a good friend."

Gaara's gaze was intense and almost… desperate? It was like the words had gotten lodged in his throat. Naruto only smiled again, reaching into his pouch to pull out a familiar worn notebook.

"Here," he said, thrusting it out to Gaara with a determined look on his face. "This is my mom's travel log. She left it for me to remember her by, but I don't need it. I'll never forget. So, I want you to have it. I wish you could meet her, but this is the closest we can come."

Gaara stared at the book almost as if expecting it to burn on touch. With a serious expression, Naruto nudged it toward him.

"I want to share this part of me with you," he declared, his voice catching with growing embarrassment. "So just, take it! This is all the stuff I did before I met you. You better not stop talking to me because of it or something!"

Finally, Gaara reached out toward it, hesitantly wrapping his fingers around the notebook. "I won't," he said – promised. "Naruto… is Naruto."

"And Gaara is Gaara," Naruto agreed. "You're you, my friend!"

/~/~

The sun had set, leaving the village in dusk, when Naruto excused himself. "I gotta get ready for the mission," he said. "See you tomorrow!" Waving, he had jogged away into the growing dark.

Gaara watched him go. When even the memory of his voice and footsteps fell silent, he looked down at his sand. It quivered for a moment before rising up in a shapeless mass. Slowly, it became humanoid, the same height as Gaara, features appearing on it, solidifying into a familiar face.

The altered Bunshin – looking like an almost perfect sand replica of Naruto – stared at Gaara with empty eyes before grinning. The expression was just like the one he'd seen so often on the real thing, but it was completely fake.

"It lacks," Gaara said to himself.

The Bunshin moved back, the growing dark blurring its features until it could almost pass for the real boy. Narrowing his eyes, Gaara raised his hand. Slowly, he curled his finger inward, and the Bunshin trembled, its form compressing and wavering.

Gaara twitched, freezing in his attack. They stood in tableau for a moment – the half-destroyed form and its creator – before the sand lost cohesion and flowed to the ground.

Lowering his hand, Gaara turned away, his shoulders lowering and curling in. "No," he muttered, "I won't give his blood to Mother. Not even… to Mother…"

Something screeched in his mind, an impossible, piercing sound that made his vision waver. The faint twilight silhouette of the village blurred in front of him, reality seeming to give way. Gaara grasped his head, the 愛 ~love~ character red like fresh blood between his fingers.

_"Go home! Monster!" the girl hisses and slams the door in his face. The medicine packet drops from his hands. Gaara is left alone in the cold and dark, to wander aimlessly. 'It didn't turn out well at all,' his childish voice whimpers in his mind. 'Why am I the only one who's a monster?'_

_The streets are dark and empty. Gaara can barely make out a shape moving toward him. It's a drunken man, stumbling to and fro. They collide, and the man glares blearily. "Watch it, you stupid brat!" he grumbles before understanding the meaning of the red hair and the dark-rimmed eyes. "Y-you're… Gaara!" he stutters, terror in his eyes. _

_'Again…' Gaara thinks, rage and pain building until he can't stand it any more. 'That look-! Why? Why always me?'_

_His sand is gathering, like a hungry beast. Maybe… Maybe this will be enough. Maybe this'll make the pain stop… The sand rushes forward, and the man screams in terror, _but suddenly it stops. The man scrambles away. Gaara ignores him - he is irrelevant - and turns to look around, almost frantically. 'I thought… I heard someone call my name,' he thinks, his _heart_ quivering at the notion.

He thinks he hears it again, and he can see, down the street, a single lantern's light. A little boy is holding it up, waving to Gaara. It's the boy from the photograph Naruto had shown him – it's Naruto, vividly yellow and smiling, but so very tiny.

Swallowing heavily, Gaara smiles and waves back. He thinks he can feel tears on his cheeks…

Gaara opened his eyes, everything silent once more. He wasn't smiling or crying. He hadn't done either in a very long time. 'A memory?' he wondered. 'No, I killed that man. Pointless. A dream? I don't sleep, except to release…'

Shaking his head, Gaara tried to brush it away, whatever it had been. In the village below, a myriad of lights had appeared in the windows. 'One of them is Naruto's,' he thought absently. 'He probably lives at the barracks.'

Gaara looked down at the small notebook still in his hand. Flipping it open to the first page, he settled down in the sand. The moon was full, his night vision was quite good, and he had the whole night ahead…

/~/~

/~/~

Poor Naruto can't beat the FRIENDSHIP into people now, so he has to take the slower non-violent route. Unfortunately, there really isn't much he can do about a demon in Gaara's head. That's all up to Gaara. Of course, in the future, he will have Gaara to beat the stupid out of people for him

But now, I have questions for you!

**How does Shukaku's seal work?** This part actually confuses me a little. We know that manipulating sand is standard for Ichibi jinchuuriki. We can be generous and assume the insomnia is too, since I don't want to think that Chiyo messed up that badly on the seal.

But Gaara as a kid didn't seem to hear Shukaku at all. So, if he pulls himself together, will he stop hearing it again? In parallel, Naruto rarely hears the Kyuubi, only when he's really, really out of it emotionally. I'll be working under the assumption that Gaara can kick Shukaku out of his head when he's more balanced.

**What color is the Kazekage's outfit?** Anime told me blue! But my shiny new volume 49 cover tells me green. …Since I use generous filler stuff, we'll go with blue, but still…

Ffffffff. Naruto, are you introducing Gaara to your parents (in equivalent)? XDDD (Once again, dear readers, this story has NO PAIRINGS.)

I personally felt this whole thing tied together surprisingly well. Some things will be made more clear in the future, but I wanted to show that Kushina wasn't perfect, though she had a clear definite effect on Naruto. I really dislike how some posthumous characters (like say, Harry Potter's mom Lily) are not really fleshed out and seem just paradigms.

Next time: the C-rank mission begins. Yes, it's more Filler Hell stuff. Also, Konoha-nins.

/~/~

/~/~


	8. Never fall down

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/~/~

Title: New Wind Nation ~(新風国)~

Chapter: 8 / Never fall down

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

Notes: Part 1 of 5 for River Country Arc. It's like a 12 episode anime. The ED is definitely _Wind_ by Akeboshi, and the OP would be _Chase the Wind_ by Dynamite Shige, a cheery song to off-set the angst of the second half.

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As first light began to color the sky, Baki was already waiting at the main gate with their employers. Gaara was the first of his students to appear, wandering up to the four men with an almost preoccupied expression and then summarily ignoring them.

Naruto was next, bouncing up to them with an almost infuriating degree of good cheer. He glanced at the three miners with interest but knew from experience that Baki wouldn't say anything until everyone had gathered. Instead, he sidled up next to Gaara and offered him a napkin-full of food. He asked a question, keeping his voice low (after getting severely reprimanded for being loud in the morning on a previous mission). Gaara nodded and gave a short reply. Smiling, Naruto began to chatter quietly.

To Baki's surprise, Gaara occasionally put a few words in as well, instead of just passively listening. He caught enough of their conversation to tell it was about River Country and decided to let it go.

The sun had begun to peak over the horizon when Kankurou finally ran up to them, trying to pull his black hood on straight. "Sorry 'bout that!" he panted for a moment. "I was making some final adjustments to Karasu, and the black-pepper poison took longer to set than I thought."

"Make sure it doesn't happen again in the future," Baki told him sternly. "It's unprofessional, but more than that, a mission can be ruined by only a minute wasted."

Kankurou fidgeted under Baki's gaze, ducking his head in a proper show of remorse. In a real squad instead of a teaching unit, this sort of mistake could be very serious, but even if he was older than the other two, Kankurou was still a genin brat and the actual transgression was very minor. Nodding, Baki turned away and set out, the rest of the group trailing behind him.

One of the miners, he noted, was giving Kankurou a rather virulent glare, which turned on Naruto as well when he helpfully yanked Kankurou's black hood into proper position and grinned brightly at the scowl he received.

"These three are our clients," Baki said quietly, gesturing to the three miners, introducing them in turn, "Rokusuke," the glaring man with thick eyebrows and fish-like lips, "Sangorou," a somewhat dour looking unshaved man with narrow, sleepy eyes, "and Hachidai," the last, jovial one of the group, completely bald, with a goatee accentuating his long face.

Kankurou looked over them critically, while Naruto waved with a smile and Gaara barely spared a glance.

"They're just miners. How are they going to pay for this?" Kankurou wondered.

"They mine gold, Kankurou," Baki explained patiently. "Also, we will receive a substantial bounty for the missing-nin Kurosuki Raiga."

"Well, yeah, but shouldn't the daimyo or whatever take care of this?" Kankurou persisted.

"The government in River Country is weak," Baki said. "River Country was created after the Second Shinobi War, to serve as a buffer between Suna and Konoha, two of the five great Hidden Villages. The land it now occupies was taken from the defeated nations of Rain and Whirlpool. However, because of this history, many towns in River even now refuse to acknowledge the daimyo. They see him only as a puppet, installed into power by Suna and Konoha. Although the situation isn't nearly as volatile as Rain's prolonged civil war, many areas are basically lawless."

Naruto looked away, hiding his expression. "Yeah, Mom and I went to where Whirlpool used to be," he said in a strange tone. "There wasn't anything there though, just some ruins." 'Even Mom couldn't find anything to call home there,' he added mentally.

'So his mother was from Whirlpool after all,' Baki thought. 'With a name like Uzumaki, there was little doubt. I doubt she looked too fondly on Suna, then. Well, it doesn't really matter now, most likely.'

Shaking away his strange mood, Naruto thrust his hand up. "Why did you decide to come to Suna?" he asks the clients. "It's because you heard how awesome we are, right?"

Hachidai and Sangorou exchanged glances and smiled sheepishly before answering. "It was either Sunagakure or Konohagakure, and the western pass was less guarded, since less trade comes this way," Sangorou explains.

"But we'll be sure to tell everyone how powerful Suna ninja are!" Hachidai hastened to reassure them, a slightly nervous smile on his long, mild face.

"Okay! Which part of River Country do you live in?" Naruto asked instead. "I've been around there a bit, so maybe I've heard of it!"

"Our village is next to Katabami Kinzan (Wood Sorrel Gold Mine)," Sangorou explained. Thinking about it, he added, "It's on the Kohaku River."

"Kohaku (Amber)… Kohaku…" Naruto mumbled to himself, eyes screwing shut in thought.

"Kohaku River flows out of Rain Country, down through River and into Fire territory, where it eventually empties into the sea," Baki said. "It also branches out into the Hi (Winnow) River, which forms the largest delta in River Country."

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed, slamming one fist into the other palm. "I remember that! Mom and I went next to it all the time! We followed it up from where Whirlpool Country used to be."

"Kohaku River," Gaara repeated. He seemed to be thinking about something. "Curry shop," he finally concluded.

"Yeah, that's right! Mom really liked a curry shop near there!" Naruto agreed cheerfully. "We should stop by there after the mission!"

"Don't take this so lightly," the third miner Rokusuke finally spoke up. He glared at Naruto, who cowered away sheepishly. "Raiga is… He's a monster."

Kankurou sneered a little, but Baki cut him off. "He's right. If you take this mission lightly, you'll die," he told his student. "This opponent is on an entirely different level than anyone you've faced. Kurosuki Raiga, former Kiri hunter-nin. Known as _Kirigakure no Raijin_ – Hidden Mist's Thunder God. He is incredibly proficient in Raiton, though fortunately that gives both Naruto and me elemental advantage. Exact information about his abilities is scarce, but there are rumors that he can even create and control a lightning storm."

'And we're going against someone like that? I mean, Baki is pretty strong, but we're two genin and an unstable failed weapon,' Kankurou thought with a scowl. 'Not to mention whatever followers he's managed to pick up. This should be A-rank! Something is definitely wrong with the council, and with our _leader_…'

"It's okay, sensei!" Naruto insisted, his grin not even wavering. "We'll definitely defeat him! We're allies of justice, and we'll restore peace to Katabami Kinzan!"

"About that," Kankurou began, his make up only accentuating his frown. "I get that he's a missing-nin and probably crazy too. But did he really just move in one day and start killing people?"

The miners looked uncomfortable. Finally, Hachidai answered, "Raiga came two months ago, with a gang he called his Kurosuki Family. We… we thought he could help us. We begged him to release us from the magistrate and his impossible taxes. He did – he killed the magistrate and all his men. But then he took over the town himself, and now he's killing us mercilessly! He holds funerals for people while they're still alive!"

"He… holds funerals for them?" Naruto repeated, squinting his eyes in confusion.

Rokusuke glared at the boy. "He buries them alive!" he bit out. "Like Kanpachi…"

The other two miners exchanged glances and looked at Rokusuke sympathetically. "We know how you feel, Rokusuke, but think how many days it's already been," Hachidai said, his long face drooping sadly. "There's no way Kanpachi is still alive."

"All we can do is make sure no one else suffers like that, for his sake too," Sangurou added. "It's only because the Kurosuki Family were busy with the funeral that we were able to escape and get help."

"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "You're saying that this Raiga buried someone alive, in a coffin, when you were leaving? And he might still be alive?"

Baki shook his head. "It's unlikely. No, it's impossible. It's been at least three days."

At this, Rokusuke looked away, clearly pained by the hard truth, while Naruto frowned at his teacher. "If there's any chance, then we should hurry! We have to at least try! Come on, River Country's not far! We can make it before sundown, if we hurry!"

"We can, but they're just civilians," Kankurou pointed, jerking his thumb toward their clients.

Naruto looked unhappy and anxious, his eyes flicking between the miners and his team. He wanted to suggest they just carry them, but Kankurou and Gaara had their weapons and he just couldn't see Baki doing something so undignified on a whim.

Suddenly, Gaara reached over his shoulder and pulled out the cork in his gourd. Sand poured out, gathering in two large mounds, rising and taking on humanoid features. While Kankurou and Baki tensed, Naruto peered at the two shapes with interest.

"_Suna Bunshin_ (Sand Clones)," Gaara explained, putting the cork back in. The two clones moved toward Sangurou and Hashidai, who stared at them with some trepidation. "If it's until sunset, it won't be a problem."

Naruto grinned, a bright, happy expression that made even the sullen Rokusuke twitch. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" he exclaimed.

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True to Naruto's prediction, they reached Kohaku River and the outskirts of Katabami Kinzan just as the sky began to change color, orange and red creeping across it from the west. Setting down the miners, Gaara's Sand Clones dispersed, the sand slithering back into his gourd. Naruto, for his part, took only a moment to catch his breath after letting Rokusuke off his back.

"Given the nature of the mission, it would be wise to first find out more about the situation and our opponents," Baki said, crossing his arms. "But I imagine you'll insist on just charging in."

Naruto grinned sheepishly, having already opened his mouth to protest the delay. 'I suppose there's no helping it,' Baki thought. 'And as Kankurou said, our real purpose is to have Gaara face a high-level enemy, so there's no real need to be subtle about it.'

"Well, none of you would be able to spy on enemy like Kurosuki Raiga even if you tried," he said instead. Both Naruto and Kankurou scowled but had the common sense not to protest.

"Alright then! Let's go!" Naruto yelled, setting off at a jog.

While it was fine that his students couldn't sneak up on a ninja of Raiga's caliber, Baki made a mental note to add extra training to their schedules when both Naruto and Kankurou completely failed to notice three of Raiga's gang approach them as they neared the mine. Naruto actually jumped in surprise when the cloaked members of the Kurosuki Family moved to block their path.

"Didn't think you three would be dumb enough to come back," one of the thugs sneered at the miners.

Hachidai and Sangurou shifted back, putting the Suna team firmly between them and the Kurosuki family, but Rokusuke glared defiantly. "You won't get away with this!" he yelled, though even his voice shook a little.

Another thug laughed. "As if you can do anything against us or Raiga-sama! So you brought some losers to help you? It won't be enough!"

"Watch your mouth," Kankurou growled.

"Yeah! We'll stop you, evildoers!" Naruto declared, unsheathing his blade. In response, the Kurosuki Family also assumed their fighting stances – and extended a trio of short claws from each of the heavy gloves they wore.

For all their attitude, the three enemies didn't seem to be above genin-level, if that. While they could enforce Raiga's law in a small civilian town, they should be no match for actual, trained shinobi. With that in mind, Baki fell back to guard their clients and let his students handle the situation.

Kankurou quickly fell back as well. Although that was normal and acceptable in a puppeteer, he made no move to actually enter combat. 'I'll need to deal with that too, when we return,' Baki thought, adding to his mental list of training to be done. He was beginning to feel somewhat remiss as a teacher to the brats. 'Naturally, Gaara can be relied on for combat, but Kankurou shouldn't be so passive either.'

Indeed, Gaara's sand had already appeared, gathering and darting toward one of the cloaked thugs. To his credit, the man didn't freeze completely at the sight. If anything, he seemed overconfident. Smirking, he shifted and – suddenly began to spin in place, his black cloak swirling around him faster than the eye could follow.

Gaara's sand surged forward, moving to wrap around the thug, but to the Suna-nins' surprise and shock, it was easily repelled, thrown away from the spinning black whirlwind he had become.

Coming out of his technique, the Family member landed only a little unsteadily on his feet and laughed. "You don't stand a chance against us!" he jeered. "Raiga-sama has taught us a lot, including this _Kuro Tatsumaki_ (Black Tornado) technique!"

"You're finished!" another thug yelled, charging with his claws at ready. Unfortunately for him, he chose Gaara as his target. Gaara remained motionless even as the enemy slashed at him, the automatic sand shield rising up to block the attack.

The sand reached out to capture him, but the Kurosuki Family member quickly launched into his technique again. The black whirlwind – and the claws hidden within – clashed with Gaara's sand shield for a moment. Gaara's eyes narrowed, and more sand surged at his opponent, shoving him away forcefully.

Raiga's minion stumbled, knocked out of his technique, and Gaara's sand easily wrapped around his legs, immobilizing him. "G-get it off!" the man stuttered, terror beginning to creep into his voice. One of his allies snarled and darted forward to attack Gaara, but the sand shield blocked him easily.

The third of the group had stayed back until then, watching the exchange – short as it was. He could see the direction the fight was taking easily. His shadowed eyes slid over the Suna team – Baki and Kankurou standing back with the miners, Gaara already ensnaring one of the Family in his sand and about to capture another, and finally Naruto, who stood a little to the side, his blade at ready but not quite certain where and how to best help.

His choice was obvious.

The final Kurosuki thug charged toward Gaara, only to turn suddenly as the sand moved to intercept him. Instead, he spun to attack Naruto, who blocked a claw slash but couldn't move fast enough to dodge a knee to the stomach. He gasped, momentarily stunned, and his opponent used the opportunity to get behind him and put him in a headlock.

Raiga's man had more than a head on Naruto and easily lifted him off the ground with just one arm around his neck. Naruto gagged, pulling at the man's arm and kicking his legs uselessly. He had lost his blade in the confusion and he couldn't breathe – they'd talked about hostage situations but not from this end!

For a moment, all those present froze.

"Release them and leave!" the third thug ordered, bringing his free hand's claws closer to Naruto's face. "Or I'll carve up this little brat!"

Kankurou snorted. "Go ahead and try!" he called out, though his voice shook a little under his sneer. "Like we care about him-!" He cut off suddenly as Baki made a sharp gesture. Almost imperceptibly, he jerked his head toward Gaara. Kankurou glanced at his sibling by blood with growing trepidation and barely suppressed a flinch at the sight. Gaara stood absolutely still, his sand equally motionless, staring at the last enemy with a particularly blank look – a look that somehow promised a lot of very messy death.

Coughing, Naruto squirmed. 'Why me?' he wondered angrily. 'Am I really the weakest on our team?' He gritted his teeth and kicked as hard as he could at the man behind him.

The thug gasped, but his grip remained firm. "You brat!" he swore, digging his claw into Naruto's cheek. "Stop squirming! And you! Release them now, or I'll carve this punk's baby face off!" To prove his point, he slowly dragged his claw down Naruto's left cheek, leaving three deep bleeding gashes behind. Shocked by the sudden pain, Naruto couldn't quite bite back a strangled whimper.

Gaara shuddered. "Naruto's… blood…" he muttered, staring at their enemy and their teammate fixedly. Instinctively, Kankurou backed away, almost stumbling over his own feet. 'Oh, shit, shit-' he thought.

'Gaara,' Naruto thought through the haze of pain and tears. 'I have to do something…' He let go of the arm holding him up with one hand, gagging as more pressure was put on his neck, and clumsily pulled out a kunai from his weapons pouch.

All at once, hell seemed to break loose.

Naruto slammed his kunai into the man behind him, scrapping it over a rib before managing to wedge it in. The Kurosuki thug screamed and dropped his hostage, who scrambled away – just in time. Leaving Kankurou to deal with the miners, Baki flickered to his student's side.

Around them, the screaming started.

"Unforgivable!" Gaara roared. "You won't get away!"

Sand filled the air, like a sandstorm in the desert, and in a moment all three Kurosuki Family members were completely engulfed. They had only moments to scream in terror before the sand squeezed and erupted in blood.

But instead of quieting down after its feast, it continued to swirl and dance violently even as Gaara bared his teeth and trembled. Shaking his head to clear it, Naruto scramble to his feet.

"Hey! Gaara!" he called out, his voice shaking a little. Gaara's attention snapped to him. "Thanks a lot! You really saved me!" Naruto forced a grin, a little strained around the edges as he tried to soak up the blood on his cheek with one sleeve. As if not knowing what to make of the situation, Gaara continued to stare at him with a single-minded uncomprehending focus.

"Gaara!" Baki barked, making the genin's eyes turn to him. Gaara looked confused and a bit disoriented as his gaze flicked between Naruto, Baki and the remains of the Kurosuki Family. But he seemed at least a little calmer and not about to attack anyone, so Baki quickly turned his attention away. "Kankurou, get over here!" he ordered sharply, pulling Naruto's hand away from his face and studying the gashes there, even as they quickly began to overflow with blood again.

Kankurou wavered only for a moment before hurrying to his teacher's side, carefully skirting the carnage and Gaara. "Those claws might have some kind of poison on them," Baki muttered tersely, keeping his voice low. "Given that Kurosuki was a hunter, he might have even used a personal recipe." Kankurou glanced over his shoulder at the sand-covered remains of the thugs before shooting Baki a disbelieving look. "I'll get it myself. You keep Naruto from bleeding out," the jounin growled.

Baki approached Gaara and his victims cautiously, though he didn't have time to dally around. Crouching by the nearest body, he shifted aside the sand – which quivered oddly but made no aggressive move – and pulled off one thug's gauntlet, mindful of the claws.

Meanwhile, Kankurou was hastily sorting through their meager medical supplies, cursing under his breath. "We don't have much," he muttered, not looking up as Baki knelt next to him. "The medical greenhouses had their funding cut again, so everyone's restricted. And since Gaara never gets hurt anyway…"

Shaking his head in frustration, he shoved a cloth at Naruto. The other genin pressed it to his wounds, trying to stem the flow of blood, as Kankurou turned his attention to the claws. He quickly pulled out a few vials and got to work, his back obscuring most of his motions.

Instead, Naruto turned to look for Gaara, locking eyes with his friend. Trying not to let his discomfort show, Naruto gave him a lop-sided smile and beckoned him closer with one hand. "Thanks for that, Gaara," he said again, as Gaara slowly moved to stand next to him. Reaching out, Naruto slowly took Gaara's hand in his own and tugged to get him to kneel. Gaara crouched gingerly, staring at their hands. "I thought I was a goner, for a moment," Naruto added.

"You still might be," Kankurou grumbled, his puppet twitching agitatedly on his back. "I think it's just a pretty strong anti-coagulant, but who knows if they've used some other nasty poison too…"

Gaara's slack hand sudden closed, rather like a vice, and Naruto had to fight down a wince. "Anti-what? It's not that bad, right?" he asked instead.

"An anti-coagulant prevents your blood from clotting, so you'll continue bleeding without treatment – possibly until you die from blood loss," Baki explained, his voice flat and emotionless. He was overseeing Kankurou's work, but his eyes often darted to their clients, who were still cowering away from the carnage.

"Eh?" Naruto exclaimed. "Really? I don't want to die from something as lame as blood loss!"

"Blood loss?" Gaara muttered, staring at the cloth Naruto pressed to his cheek, already almost completely soaked in red.

"We can mix something to counteract it," Baki said, more to Kankurou than Naruto.

Kankurou nodded, a bit distractedly. "Yeah, something to force the wound to clot, better make sure it disinfects too… but it'll interfere with the healing," he warned. "That cute little face of your isn't gonna be the same."

Laughing a little breathlessly, Naruto said brightly, "Big deal! Scars are cool! I'll look like a hardened warrior!"

Kankurou snorted, turning back to his teammates with a small bowl of _something_ in his hand. "Yeah, whatever you say, squirt. Now, this might sting a bit," he warned, his smirk just a tad too happy.

True to Kankurou's word, the gashes on Naruto's face stopped bleeding immediately after the application of his mystery concoction, so the team was able to tape a large bandage over his cheek and consider the problem at least temporarily dealt with. Unlike what Kankurou said, it had hurt very much.

"Sadist," Naruto hissed, gingerly poking at the bandage and wincing.

Kankurou sneered. "Take it like a man. And don't get taken hostage next time, shorty."

"Next time," Gaara repeated, making Kankurou jump in surprise. Turning to Naruto, he said, "Next time, I'll protect you."

"Thanks!" Naruto said brightly. "But, I think I really need to train more. I'm really the weakest on our team. I can't let myself fall behind if I want to become a legend!" He jumped to his feet determinedly. "Now, come on! We've gotta get going!"

However, his bold words were a little undermined when he swayed and almost fell over. Baki sighed. "We need to rethink our strategy – or rather come up with one – and regroup. You're not fit for combat and Gaara has used a lot of chakra today. Also, it's not a good idea to take our clients with us onto the battlefield."

"But, sensei, what about Rokusuke-san's friend?" Naruto asked, shifting nervously. "I promise I won't drag you down!"

Kankurou huffed unhappily. "In this case, we should split up," he admitted, reluctantly. "We need to get the civilians out of here, since we can move a lot faster without them. Gaara and the pipsqueak can escort them somewhere safe, while Baki-sensei and I look for this buried miner. Just give us some general directions, and we'll find the newest grave easily."

Even though his suggestion was helpful, Kankurou's tone made it clear how pointless he considered that particular errand.

Unfortunately, it turned out he was right.

/~/~

At the main entrance to Katabami Kinzan, work continued as usual. Workers, all heavily burdened and weary, moved in and out of the central passages that led into the mine, carved side by side into the cliff. Many of the miners barely dragged themselves along, but none dared to stop, under the watchful eyes of the black cloaked Kurosuki Family.

Unnoticed by the gang, another group was also observing the scene.

A man and three children crouched on top of the cliff, carefully concealed from those below. All of them wore headbands with the same symbol – a spiral in a leaf.

"Gai-sensei!" one of the boys exclaimed, turning to the adult. They were almost identical, dressed in the same green spandex, with the same bowl cut black hair and the same thick eyebrows, except for size and the vest the man wore. "This is unYouthful! Injustice! We cannot allow this to continue!"

Gai stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I understand your feelings, Lee! I am also saddened to see this happen so close to my favorite curry shop, when I had been so looking forward to taking my cute little students there as a reward for a well completed C-rank mission!" He clenched his fist dramatically as tears streamed from his eyes.

"Leave them," the other boy grumbled – this one dressed more conservatively, his dark hair worn long. What stood out the most were his pale eyes, with no pupil. "If they are too weak to help themselves, this servitude is their fate."

"Neji!" the girl of the group reprimanded. "That's just cruel. It's not a mission, but we can't just abandon them in good conscience. Some bandits shouldn't be a problem for us anyway." She was pretty, if not beautiful, most things about her serious and practical, but her pink top and twin buns gave her a cute feminine look.

Also breaking out in tears – and sparkles as well – Lee grabbed both her hands in his own. "How Youthful, Tenten!" he said happily as the girl tried to edge away from him. The teacher looked at them fondly while Neji looked away in disgust.

However, all four quickly stopped fooling around as the sounds of a commotion below reached them. An old miner, grey and balding, had stumbled and dropped his load of rocks. The black cloaked overseers quickly converged on him. One kicked the old man in the ribs, yelling something.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee yelled, tensed and ready. At his teacher's nod, he flickered out of sight, reappearing below.

The fight was short. Lee knocked out each of the guards with just one well-placed strike. As they fell to the ground around him, Lee reached out to the old man they had been attacking.

"You're safe now!" he proclaimed with a blinding smile. But instead of being reassured, the old man scrambled away and gripped his head in horror.

"What've you done?" he wailed. He turned to Lee desperately. "Knock me out too, please! If they find out I was the only one not hurt-!"

The rest of Lee's team appeared behind him, watching the scene with confusion. Suddenly, the old man started hitting himself, whimpering under each blow. Lee quickly restrained him, looking horrified as the miner quivered.

"He'll kill me! He'll hold a funeral for me!" the old man whimpered. "Raiga-sama will punish me for this!"

Lee shook his head furiously. "No! I won't allow it! I'll definitely stop this, on my honor as a Konoha shinobi!"

/~/~

/~/~

Oh, Gaara. You are so soft on Naruto, it's just… you'll really spoil him, you know.

I have to say, Raiga's intro in the anime is… creepy as hell. He's totally different from the usual villains. It's awesome. I'm studying abroad in Japan right now, and most internet video sites don't work here! I managed to download really poor quality versions of the important episodes though.

From the readers,

**Are you _sure_ Naruto doesn't have the Kyuubi? It doesn't feel right!**

A: ... Look at this from my perspective as an author. In _NARUTO_, the Kyuubi serves a two-fold purpose: 1) it gives Naruto an angsty backstory about being shunned (despite him not knowing why) and 2) it gives him emergency powers for when he really should get his ass kicked/killed.

In _NWN_, Naruto's backstory doesn't really allow for that. Since he and Kushina traveled around a lot, there was no way he could be consistently shunned for the Kyuubi, since no one knew about it. Even _if_ he had it, people in Suna probably wouldn't know, since Naruto doesn't use it and the Kazekage (if he knew) would want to keep an ace up his sleeve. So that's out. Whether he has Kyuubi or not, Naruto's NWN backstory would be the same. **_There would be NO in-story difference._**

(And yeah, okay, so I'll have to work harder as an author to compensate for Naruto no longer having a fall back power up.)

Most of you complain that Naruto can't understand Gaara because Naruto's not a jinchuuriki. Well... um, yeah. In canon, Naruto and Gaara are basically able to short-hand their friendship since they have this connection. If you think about it, canon Naruto and Gaara literally spend only _days _(if that) in each other's company_. _In NWN, on the other hand, they get to build up (kinda) slowly.

Naruto _does_ know what it's like to be an outsider and treated badly for something he can't help. It's just not quite as drastic. And, IMHO, Naruto's and Gaara's experiences as jinchuuriki were pretty different anyway.

**Is the Yondaime Naruto's dad? Does Naruto know?**

A: Yes, Naruto has his canon parents. (That's canon, with one "n". Not cannon. Not a big gun.) But I'm not sure if Naruto knows. He knows his father was a Konoha shinobi. He knows he's dead. Kushina may or may not have told him much else, but given NW!Naruto's personality, he would act the same either way. After all, what does some dead guy he's never met matter to him? Or, alternatively, repression is a wonderful thing.

And to the readers!

**How do ANBU and hunter-nin work?**

As I understand, ANBU exist in every village. They're the elite, and can be recruited from either chuunin or jounin. However, one site tells me hunter-nin are a special _division of ANBU_ while another tells me hunter-nin are an _independent group_ _only in Mist_. What.

So yeah, Kazekage robes should be green? …I'll deal with it later. Somehow. *sigh* Seriously, I don't want green. I should just make them purple. Yes….

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	9. Knees shaking

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Title: New Wind Nation Waking ~(新風国)~

Chapter: 9 / Knees shaking

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

Notes: Part 2 of 5 in River Country Arc. Naruto is… the Sakura of his team?

/~/~

/~/~

"Alright, my lovely students, let's hear your report!" Gai proclaimed, posing in a way that accentuated every spandex-clad curve of his body.

Equally green and spandex-clad, Lee saluted enthusiastically. "Yosh, Gai-sensei!" He pulled out a small black notebook and began to read off his notes. "This village of Katabami Kinzan has recently been taken over by an armed gang called the Kurosuki Family. They are led by Kurosuki Raiga, reportedly a shinobi. The Kurosuki Family have oppressed the miners, forced them into unreasonable labor and have killed many for minor or imaginary offenses." Snapping his notebook shut, Lee looked up with fire in his eyes. "In other words, they are evil-doers!"

"Wonderful, Lee! Anything to add, Neji, Tenten?" he asked, turning to his two other students.

Neji crossed his arms, his expression still displeased. "This little gang has at least eleven members. They appear to vary in ability, but none are above high genin level." He shrugged. "They will present no obstacle to us."

Although he beamed proudly, Gai quickly turned serious. "I have heard some rumors about Kurosuki Raiga, if it is indeed him here. He is a former Kiri hunter-nin, very proficient in Raiton." He studied of his students. 'Although they've grown quite a bit in the year we've been together, Kurosuki Raiga is far beyond their abilities. Nonetheless, this is a good chance to see if they are truly ready for the exam,' he thought.

"Yosh! I've decided!" he exclaimed. "We will split up! I will search out and face Kurosuki Raiga while you, my dear students, find and neutralize his minions!"

All of them nodded sharply before flickering out of sight.

/~/~

Although somewhat depressed by their failure to save Rokusuke's friend, Naruto had started the next day with renewed determination. That determination was somewhat dampened by the realization that he had been relegated to the back lines.

When they returned to Katabami Kinzan, they had run into another Kurosuki Family patrol. Gaara had not even given them a chance to speak before attacking.

"Gaara's a lot more, uh, driven today," Naruto noted, standing well away from the massacre in progress.

Kankurou grunted. "Driven. That's one way to put it," he mumbled. 'Vengefully obsessive is more like it,' he thought. 'Even when he's… feeding the demon, he always takes his time. Now he just wants them dead. Looks like I'll have to be nicer to the pipsqueak after all.'

Keeping a firm hand on Naruto's shoulder to make sure the boy didn't do anything stupid, Baki chose not to comment. 'I should have known there's no chance Gaara would just get saner. No, of course not,' Baki lamented in the privacy of his mind, his expression carefully stoic. 'He just went from homicidal to obsessed.'

Suddenly, without warning, a green whirlwind appeared on the battlefield, disrupting Gaara's sand and separating him from his victim, the last of the patrol.

"Stop right there!" a young voice proclaimed, and the whirlwind resolved itself into a boy in all green spandex. He extended one hand, palm up, and stood at ready in a unique fighting stance. "I can't allow this sort of senseless slaughter!" he told Gaara seriously.

Baki's hand tightened on Naruto's shoulder, just in case, as his eyes darted to the symbol on the boy's waistband. "This is none of your concern, Konoha-nin," the jounin barked. "We're on a mission. Don't interfere with the business of an ally nation."

"Lee!" The boy's teammates appeared behind him. Both looked disgruntled, but both also carefully avoided looking at the remains of the Kurosuki Family.

"Lee, don't just go charging in like that," the girl, Tenten, scolded. "Suna is an ally of Konoha, and they're also… um, dealing with the Kurosuki Family…"

The third Konoha-nin, Neji, crossed his arms. "If they have already been hired to handle the situation, then there is no need for us to be here," he pointed out, clearly disgruntled. "Let us leave."

Unfortunately, a peaceful resolution just wasn't in the cards. "Don't interfere," Gaara ordered flatly, glaring at Lee. With a horrible crunching sound, his sand finished off the last of the Kurosuki Family patrol and gathered threateningly around the Konoha-nin.

Lee's head snapped back to look at the body of the thug, his eyes widening a little, before looking turning back to Gaara with a glare. "That's too cruel!" he declared. "That man was no longer able to fight! I can't allow you act in such an unYouthful manner!"

"Then you're my enemy," Gaara declared, his eyes narrowing.

Showing speed more suitable to a chuunin – or even a new jounin – Lee dodged the sand that suddenly attacked him. "Gaara!" Naruto yelled, running up to his friend's side. The timing couldn't have been worse. Going on the offensive, Lee appeared behind Gaara, ready to land a devastating spin-kick – which put Naruto between them.

Momentarily surprise, Lee aborted his attack. That was the opening Gaara needed to land a solid hit. Before Lee's feet touched the ground, sand crashed into him, slamming him into a large rock. His teammates burst into action, Tenten launching a barrage of shuriken, Neji dropping into a fighting stance. 'Byakugan!' he thought, the veins around his pale eyes bulging.

The shuriken hit Gaara's sand shield harmlessly, but they distracted him long enough for Neji to shunshin to Lee's side. His hands struck the sand engulfing Lee impossibly quickly, sending small pulses of chakra through it – enough to disrupt it and make it fall away. Grabbing him by the arm, Neji pulled Lee up and away from Gaara.

"Let's retreat," he called out to Tenten. "That man's chakra coils are very well developed. He's probably a jounin, and this guy… there's something unnatural about him. It would be best to regroup with Gai-sensei."

'They think Gaara's going to let them run?' Kankurou wondered, trying to edge away discreetly. 'Konoha-nin really are stupid…'

"Kankurou," Baki said quietly, pulling him out of his thoughts, "did you bring any sedatives?"

"No. I didn't think we'd need them on this kind of mission," Kankurou answered automatically.

"Then use something you have an antidote for, something mild and relatively slow acting, but potent enough to disable them," Baki instructed. Seeing Kankurou's look, he scowled. "We can't afford to let Gaara kill them, but they could cause too many complications if we leave them to run around, not to mention their jounin teacher. Quickly!"

Meanwhile, more sand had gathered threateningly around the Konoha shinobi, blocking off their escape. "Gaara, look, they're leaving anyway," Naruto tried to reason. "Just let them go. They're not enemies!"

Unfortunately, Lee was trying to argue in the opposite direction. "Neji, Tenten, retreating now would be a sign of weak resolve! This person is obviously an enemy! He killed those men ruthlessly and attacked us!"

"Lee, shut up!" Tenten hissed in response.

"I swore to help the miners here," Lee insisted. "This person could be a serious threat to them!"

"He's Suna, not Kiri," Tenten replied. 'Not that Suna-nin have the greatest reputation either,' she thought. 'But he won't kill everyone indiscriminately, probably…'

With impressive agility, the three Konoha shinobi dodged several attacks from Gaara, trying to simultaneously look for an opening. Distracted, only Neji noticed Kankurou's Karasu activate and move to intercept them. Even he didn't have enough time dodge as all three were engulfed in a cloud of green smoke.

Coughing, they dropped to their knees and finally collapsed completely.

Kankurou manipulated Karasu back to his side and looked unhappily at Baki. "We've got four hours," he said grumpily. "Six if we give them each a half-dose of the antidote in about three hours."

"Sensei!" Naruto called out, his voice mostly sounding whiny, but with a definite edge of panic underneath. He and Gaara had settled into a staring contest, which Naruto was bound to lose.

"Gaara! We can't kill allies! Leave them!" Baki barked. Although Gaara gave him a glare that promised death, his sand retreated, leaving the three Konoha shinobi still alive, if breathing heavily and starting to sweat unnaturally.

"So what do we do now?" Kankurou wondered. "Do you think their teacher went after Kurosuki?"

Baki looked up at the sky. Not too far away, heavy storm clouds were gathering, unnaturally appearing in a mostly clear sky. "Probably," he said. "We'll have to split up. Someone will need to stay with these three while Gaara goes after Raiga. If the Konoha-nin kills him first, we won't get the bounty on his head."

Kankurou crossed his arms. "I'm not staying with them alone."

'The whole point of this mission is for Gaara to face Raiga. So he has to go. He can't go alone, since someone will need to… negotiate with the Konoha jounin. I need to go with him – Naruto or Kankurou won't be able to do it,' Baki thought, his mind racing. 'But someone needs to stay with these three too, and whoever stays needs to be able to deal with the Kurosuki Family suddenly showing up.'

He paused, studying the three Konoha shinobi. 'We can't just leave them. They're valuable bargaining chips against their jounin teacher.' Baki sighed.

"We'll have to take them with us," he decided aloud. Kankurou groaned. "Tie them up. Karasu will carry two, and Naruto will take the third. You two, stay back. Gaara and I will deal with any threats."

…

"Shit! What the hell? This loser's got weights on him that're heavier than he is!"

…

Despite the minor complications, they moved out quickly, Baki leading them to the mountain, Kankurou bringing up in the back, still grumbling about the misuse of his poor puppet.

Naruto moved next to Gaara, adjusting the green-clad Konoha-nin over his shoulder. 'Geez, even without the weighs, this guy is heavy. He's really muscle-bound,' he thought.

"You know, now that I think about it, what Baki-sensei said about River Country is really true," Naruto said, a little awkwardly. It wasn't the best opening, coming out of nowhere, but he wasn't sure what else to say. "I remember Mom had to fight off bandits pretty often, when we were traveling. I was totally useless back then!" he laughed. "Of course, I was just a little kid, so all I could do was run and hide."

Beside him, Gaara looked thoughtful and kind of sad, though perhaps that was just Naruto's imagination. "She protected you," Gaara said.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "In lots of ways. It's a sign of caring. I really appreciated it most of the time, because it showed that she loved me, but sometimes… Well, I remember I came home crying once – just once! – and kinda beat up. I'd gotten into a fight, you see, with some of the local kids. They said all kinds of stuff, like my mom being a thief and a beggar, my dad abandoning us, stuff like that. One of them even threw rocks at me."

Gaara radiated killing intent, making Baki glance back nervously, but Naruto didn't seem to notice, caught up in his own memories. Shaking his head, he continued, "Well, anyway, when I told Mom, she got really angry. She stormed off and found all those kids… and yelled at their parents. I almost thought she'd fight them, even though they were just civilians. In the end, we packed up and left, after Mom practically made the mayor wet himself in fear."

Naruto sighed. "I was so mad at her," he confided. "I hadn't wanted to leave at all. I hadn't even wanted her to help me. Kids teased and bullied me in every town we went to, but in that one, I had actually made a friend too – this girl who shared her lunch with me. Probably, that's why I got so sad – because I'd been so happy just before. But we couldn't stay after Mom threatened everyone like that. We would've gotten lynched for sure. I wouldn't talk to Mom for days afterward."

His smile became strained. 'That was childish,' he thought. 'I'm sorry for that too, Mom. This time, I'll handle it better, I swear.'

"I always tried to remember that when people said stupid things about Mom," he said instead. "It wasn't that I didn't care. I really did! It pissed me off! But even though I wanted to break their noses, I would just cause trouble – for both of us – if I did that. So what I'm trying to say is… well, uh…"

"I understand," Gaara cut in, his voice bland. But his face was calm, maybe a little contemplative.

Naruto stared. "Eh? Really?" Quickly, he shook away his surprise. "I'm glad! I mean, even I wasn't sure what I was saying!" he laughed. "You're really amazing, Gaara…"

/~/~

Kurosuki Raiga was not hard to find. Even covered almost completely in a black cloak, a strange lump on his back, he stood out due to his twin swords Lightning Fangs and their unique shape.

As if sensing Gai's presence, Raiga turned and met his gaze.

"Missing-nin Kurosuki Raiga," Gai declared, posing dramatically, "I, the beautiful Green Beast of Konoha, will not allow your evil oppression of this town to continue! Surrender now, or be defeated!"

Tilting his head slightly, Raiga regarded the man in green. Suddenly, he laughed, a happy but insane sound. "Everyone in Katabame Kinzan is counting on me. I have to protect the peace of this village," Raiga replied, still grinning, raising his swords.

"Are we going to have a funeral?" a quiet voice whispered to him.

Raiga laughed. "No! Even if we had one, no one has any memories of him or his friends, so there's no point. We'll just take care of them quickly!"

Shifting into a fighting stance, Gai narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, his boisterous cheer giving way to a more serious face. 'Is he talking to himself? And he seems to know about my dear students,' he thought. 'I'll need to be careful.'

Around them, a thick mist began to gather. '_Kirigakure no jutsu_ – Hidden Mist's signature technique,' Gai thought. 'But I won't let you finish it!'

"_Konoha Senpuu!_" he yelled, leaping toward Raiga.

The missing-nin ducked the first kick of Leaf Whirlwind and, more surprisingly, nimbly leapt over the low second attack as well. Jumping away, Raiga disappeared into the mist, sending only a ball of lightning from between his swords as a parting gift.

Gai dodged easily and returned to a ready stance. 'This fog is even thicker than normal. He shouldn't be able to see anything either, but reports for Kiri were incomplete,' he thought.

A blurry figure moved to his left, and Gai reacted instantly, launching into another devastating kick. But instead of Raiga, his attack impacted on a large boulder, smashing it into pieces. 'What? I was certain I sensed an opponent,' Gai thought. 'Genjutsu?'

"_Kai_ (Release)," he said quietly, pulsing his chakra.

Standing, he kept his eyes closed. In this situation, they would more than likely prove more a hindrance than a help. Instead, Gai focused on what he could hear. And what he heard was... the crackling on a Raiton technique. Flipping away, he just barely dodged another ball of lightning. Gai didn't waste a moment following the technique back to its source. He was faster than Raiga, by quite a bit, but as before, the missing-nin dodged his attacks as if he could see them coming.

'I can't let him disappear back into the mist,' Gai thought, side-stepping a sword swipe.

Falling back for an instance, he prepared for the technique. Suddenly, he seemed to vanish from sight. Raiga's eyes widened and he looked around frantically. "Raiga, below!" the same voice cried out, urgent and desperate. The missing-nin tried to back away, but he was too slow. Without warning, Gai appeared next to him in a crouch and landed a swift upper kick into Raiga's chin, sending him flying into the air.

"Raiga!" the childish voice cried again.

"_Kage Buyou_," Gai announced, his voice ringing out as he disappeared, only to reappear directly behind Raiga as they sailed through the air. "Whatever you were using won't help you escape this Shadow of the Dancing Leaf," he told his opponent as Raiga's eyes widened in desperation.

'It's too early for _Omote Renge_ (Initial Lotus),' Gai thought. 'Instead…'

He landed a strong kick to Raiga's side, feeling the bones of his arm and ribs creak. Raiga's cloak tore, and Gai could see that the strange lump on his back was a large cloth bag, almost like a child's sleeping bag. However, he didn't falter in his attack, and the next hit broke the straps holding it to Raiga, sending the bag flying.

"Ranmaru!" Raiga gasped, gritting his teeth. Caught by gravity, he plowed into the ground, leaving a long trail as he slid almost to the edge of the cliff. Gai landed neatly several feet away, sparing a glance to the bag, which lay still where it had fallen.

He turned his attention back to Raiga as the missing-nin climbed to his feet. Despite his fall, he had kept both his swords, though his cloak had been destroyed. "Ranmaru! Ranmaru!" Raiga lamented, staring at the bag with overwhelming concern. "You! I won't forgive you! You'll pay for that!" he snarled, snapping around to face Gai and lifting his swords.

"Very well," Gai replied, deepening his stance. "I have no desire for your forgiveness."

But before the two fighters could launch themselves at each other, gale winds tore across their battlefield, scattering the mist and battering both shinobi. As the winds died down, five figures landed between them. Raiga snarled, his posture defensive, but Gai froze for just an instance.

The newcomers were a man, three boys and a puppet. The four living wore Suna headbands - a jounin and his genin squad, most likely. But that wasn't what caught Gai's attention. Draped across the puppet and one of the boys were his students, all restrained and motionless.

"What have you done to my students?" he demanded, turning to them with a furious expression.

The Suna jounin regarded his with a cool expression. "They will be returned to you unharmed if you cooperate," he said. Gai scowled. "We have been hired to eliminate the Kurosuki Family and their leader, Kurosuki Raiga. Do not interfere with our mission."

'And you expect me to trust the word of Suna-nin?' Gai wondered. 'I still remember the war and every treaty you people broke!'

His eyes darted to his students, calculating the odds of just grabbing them and running – as much as Raiga was a threat, the children were infinitely more precious. The Suna jounin easily guessed his thoughts. "Even if you retrieve them, you will require the antidote," he said almost off-handedly.

"You poisoned them?" Gai roared.

The other jounin remained unmoved, though he subtly tensed. Two of his students – the puppeteer and the blonde – jumped a little. Over the blonde's shoulder, Lee suddenly twitched and kneed him in stomach, making the other boy wince.

The last of the Suna genin – a redhead – shifted, radiating killer intent at Lee. A glare from his teacher and a sheepish smile for his teammate made him back down, if only a little, but Gai kept his eyes on him. Something about the boy wasn't right.

Seeing them distracted, Raiga took the opportunity to make his move.

He spun around without warning and jumped away, landing on the cliff side above them and running up it vertically. "You'll pay!" he yelled. Spinning his swords once, he let the points drag along the rock after him. "_Iwa Nadare!_"

Lightning raced along the swords, and wide cracks burst along the cliff in Raiga's wake. The Rock Avalanche technique was aptly named – the boulders breaking off plummeted toward the shinobi below, sending them scrambling to escape.

In the chaos of falling rock and swift movement, everyone reacted in their own way. Kankurou had stayed well away to start with and, cursing, he directed Karasu to dump its baggage – the two Konoha-nin – and escape. Moving with incredible speed, Gai caught them before they had even hit the ground, but with both hands occupied, there was nothing he could do to help Lee, still being held by Naruto.

Baki reacted an instance slower, his mind running a quick calculation – he could depend on Kankurou's impressive survival instincts, and Gaara had a demon to protect him. The decision clear, he darted toward his third student and grabbed Naruto, cursing inwardly at the boy's staunch refusal to let go of the Konoha-nin he carried.

The last thing Gaara saw before the thick shell of sand closed over him was everyone's retreating backs.

Standing above them, Raiga laughed wildly.

/~/~

/~/~

**Why is Gaara so quick to attack Lee?**

A: Gaara's overcompensating in the opposite direction, so now he ries to kill anyone who so much as looks at Naruto funny. That's why he's so needlessly confrontational. It's… not really that strange for Gaara, if you think about it.

(Naruto is protesting so little because he's taking it one step at a time. He can't really expect Gaara to stop killing people all together just like that. And he _was_ raised in Suna…)

**Why is Lee so quick to fight?**

A: It looks bad from Lee's end. Gaara's obviously crazy and ruthless. Other nations' shinobi often kill civilians (this is fact, lots of shinobi are crazy and bloodthirsty) and Lee doesn't really know what Gaara's mission is, as such. And Gaara attacks right away, more or less.

Of course, shinobi of different nations seem to be on really bad terms overall. Kankurou was very willing to pick a fight with Team 7, _in Konoha itself_, even though their headbands were obvious. I think if they met on a mission, they could very easily get into a fight – especially with Baki being all "those guys who were my enemy in the last war, better have the upper hand", Gaara being all "better dead than sorry" and Lee being all "noble intentions!"

I'm sorry if someone's power level seems off. Think of it as a situational thing. Except Raiga, I definitely made him stronger, just because he needs to be some threat to two jounin and Gaara. Well, maybe not Gaara.

Oh, and yes, the persistent issue:

**Why does Naruto suck so much?**

A: He doesn't. No, really. NW Naruto is stronger than canon (minus Kyuubi). But everyone else around him happens to also be strong. He's on a team with Baki (jounin), Gaara (…), and Kankurou, who despite being a coward has something like 2 years of experience on Naruto. In opponents, there's Raiga (ANBU equivalent level), Gai (jounin), and Lee (way above genin, IMHO).

Naruto _does _improve a lot and quickly. He's not a genius though, so it takes actual combat experience, which he hasn't had yet. _Yet_.

And to the question I asked a while back,

**What's up with ANBU and hunter-nin?**

One of the recent manga chapters (erg) has a Kiri jounin and Danzou's Root talking about this a bit. They specifically state that Kiri has ANBU and that hunter-nin are a sub-division of ANBU. Of course, that could be a miss-translation, but I doubt it.

Next chapter: _Shukaku_. Jumping the Demon Shark~ We're ~ Jumping the Demon Shark~! E-pic Fa-il~

/~/~

/~/~


	10. Only twelve

/~/~/~/~

/~/~

Title: New Wind Nation Waking ~(新風国)~

Chapter: 10 / Only twelve

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

Notes: Part 3 of 5 in River Country Arc. Jumping the Demon Shark~ We're~ jumping the Demon Shark~ _E-PIC FA-IL~!_ (*s-sob*)

/~/~

/~/~

_Children laugh, passing a ball back and forth, running and dodging under the open sky. In the shadows, a little red-haired boy sits alone on a swing, carefully holding a well-worn stuffed bear. **(All alone.)** His head is lowered, but his eyes stray to the others as they continue their game._

_One of the players kicks the ball too hard and it soars through the air, landing on a roof. "What are we going to do?" they wonder to each other. "We can't climb walls yet." Suddenly, the ball moves. Buffered by a small cloud of sand, it flies through the air to land in the little red-head's arms. _

_The children gasp and back away in fear. "It's him. It's Gaara," they whisper. "Run!" someone yells, and suddenly their fleeing. **(Leaving him all alone.)**_

_"Wait! Don't leave me alone!" he begs. He stretches out his hand, and the sand reaches out. It's part of him, **the only other who will never leave**. 'I don't want to be alone anymore!' he thinks, wishes desperately._

_The sand is pulling them back to him, and they scream in terror, clawing at the ground. The sand is moving, but he doesn't even know what (**who**) is willing it to move. All he has is a desperate, too-strong wish without even words to name it._

_Suddenly, someone jumps between them, taking the attack and pain onto himself. "Please calm down, Gaara-sama!" the man beseeches. _

_"Yashamaru," the little red boy whispers. 'He stopped me. T-that's good,' he thinks._

'**But it was for their sake**. Always, for everyone else. Why not for me? Why does no one help me? Why am I the only one left alone?'

But even as he wondered, he could feel himself sinking, falling into the darkness.

/~/~

As the last of the rock avalanche ended and only clouds of dust remained in the air, the Suna and Konoha shinobi tried to take in their surroundings, coughing a little. "Karasu got busted after all," Kankurou cursed under his breath, examining the crushed limbs and dented body of his puppet. He raised his voice to call out to the others, "Hey, sensei, pipsqueak? You alive?"

"Coward!" Gai snarled, gently laying down Neji and Tenten. Fortunately, they had ended up on opposite ends of the new rock field.

Baki was nearer, and he also did not look entirely pleased as he dumped Naruto to the ground. "We're alive," he called back.

"Where's Gaara?" Naruto asked, looking around frantically while easing Lee off his shoulder. "Didn't he run too?"

Baki's frown deepened as he scanned the area, carefully keeping some of his attention on Gai. 'Gaara is not really strong in physical aspects,' he thought. 'In fact, he rarely makes any movement in combat. He may not have had time to react. But Shukaku would protect him all the same…'

"Gaara! Gaara, are you alright?" Naruto yelled, running up to the edge of the rock field. He continued trying to get a response as he climbed onto the boulders, but Baki ignored him, instead looking up in search of Raiga.

Having checked on his students and moved a little further from the battlefield, Gai approached Baki with a furious, determined expression. "Give me the antidote," he demanded.

"Not until our mission is complete," Baki replied calmly. "If there are complications, we will give you a half-dose in three hours, which will buy-"

"Don't play with my students' lives, you-!" Guy protested at the same time.

But both of them were abruptly cut off by an incredible surge of bloodlust and killer intent. Even as seasoned jounin, both froze, breathless.

'This is…Shukaku…' Baki realized, horrified.

A giant claw of sand burst from among the rocks, sending shrapnel and dust flying. With a yell, Naruto scrambled back as the cliff collapsed behind him, another landslide starting as a towering shape coalesced in the haze.

Something shrieked madly.

"**Finally! Finally, I'm out!**" the mad voice cackled.

As the dust parted, a monstrous figure emerged – a giant raccoon formed out of sand, with a long tail and purple veins across its body. Its yellow eyes glowed as it began to claw its way up the cliff, shrieking and laughing.

"**I'll kill you all!**" it swore gleefully.

Grabbing Naruto by the scruff, Baki hauled him away from the edge of the cliff – just in time, as a giant claw raked over the place he had been, gouging deep furrows in the stone. Naruto stared wide-eyed at the demon, and Baki had to wonder if he finally understood the full gravity of Gaara's situation.

"What is that?" Gai couldn't help ask, crouching protectively in front of his students. 'This feeling… It's the same as twelve years ago,' he thought.

"The One-Tailed Shukaku," Baki replied tonelessly, dragging Naruto further back.

"A Bijuu?" Gai repeated. "You brought that here?" 'You let it near my students?' he wanted to say.

Above them, Raiga stared in surprise as well. He had not expected this, but in the end, it didn't really matter. "Demons don't need burials at all," he muttered to himself, gripping his swords tighter. "Now, _Ikazuchi no Kiba!_ No matter what you are, you'll fall before my Lightning Fangs!"

Building up lightning-natured chakra until it gloved around him, Raiga raised his swords to the sky and let the energy surge upward. For a moment, lightning danced between the clouds, building before suddenly releasing – bright bolts flashing as they rained down on the monstrous form of Shukaku.

The demon shuddered, but only for a moment before laughing madly again. "**Too bad! Wrong! Wrong!**" it jeered. "**Won't work!**"

Its yellow eyes pinned Raiga in place as it opened its jaws wide and sucked in air, its belly expanding. Its sharp-toothed slasher grin widened. "**_Fuuton: Renkuudan!_**" it rumbled. Raiga's eyes widened and, finally pulling himself free of its overwhelming killing intent, he tried to run.

The demon punched itself in the stomach, sending a giant ball of compressed air and chakra shooting out of its jaws. It crashed into the mountain, boulders, shrapnel and dust filling the air. Rumbling like thunder, an entire section of the cliff began to collapse. Shukaku only continued to laugh even as the landslide collided with its body.

"This is our best chance. We have to run," Baki decided. Grabbing Naruto by the arm, he tried to haul his student to his feet and drag him away, but Naruto refused to move. "What are you doing? Hurry!" Baki urged.

Naruto shook his head slowly. "That's… Gaara?" he wondered. He shook his head again. "No, that's not Gaara at all. That must be the demon inside him, the one that's always lying to him." Naruto's eyes widened with realization, and he spun around to face Baki, a determined expression on his face. "Sensei! We have to help him!"

Baki stared at him. "What?" he asked, momentarily speechless. "What are you babbling about? There's nothing we can do! We have to run or we'll die right here."

"What about Gaara?" Naruto demanded. "What about everyone in the mine? We have to do something!"

"Take responsibility," Gai agreed darkly. "You brought that here and allowed it to be released. You should be prepared to face the consequences."

Naruto's attention turned to Gai as he spoke, just remembering that he and his students were there as well. Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a small canister made of a hollow bamboo segment. "What are you doing?" Baki protested, but Naruto ignored him, tossing the flagon to Gai.

"It's the antidote. Give them each a fourth of what's inside," he instructed, turning away. Gai's gaze lingered on his tense back, but after a moment he nodded sharply and, pocketing the container in his pouch, picked up his students and dashed away.

"Fool!" Baki hissed, but he too backed away and fled.

"I'm going to stop it," Naruto declared, speaking to himself, for his own sake, now. "Gaara's in there. I… I just have to reach him, and he'll stop it." Naruto's hands shook as he clenched them into fists. 'I have to believe in Gaara,' he thought, desperately and just a little wryly. 'I don't have any other choice…'

Shukaku's gargantuan head reared back and it opened its mouth to emit another cackle. "**He died! He died!**" it laughed, finding no sign of Raiga. Instead it turned slowly in search of new targets. A wave of killer intent crashed into Naruto as its attention focused on him. Its poison-yellow eyes flared and its jaws parted in a parody of a grin.

"**Found you!**" Shukaku crowed. "**You! You! I know you!**"

Naruto shuddered, his lungs seizing under the murderous aura of the demon. His hand trembled wildly as he wrapped it around the hilt of his blade. Clenching his fist tightly, and he ripped the blade out of its scabbard, pointing it at the monstrous form.

Throwing his head back, Naruto glared at the demon.

"That's right! Even a demon knows of me!" he roared, baring his teeth. "I will leave my mark on all creation! Burn my name into your deepest memory! _Uzumaki-no-Naruto has appeared before you!_"

His arrogant words echoed across the mountain as Shukaku fell ominously still. Its form shuddered. Leveling its malevolent eyes on him, it roared, sending gale winds sweeping across the mountain side.

The prospect – the _very thought_ – of facing such a beast should have been enough to send him running, but Shukaku had also shown Naruto the one thing that would drive him past any limit. There, on its wide forehead, was the still figure of his friend. Gaara was almost entirely submerged in the sand that made up Shukaku's form, only his head and torso visible. His eyes were closed – slumbering. He seemed impossibly far away.

"Gaara!" Naruto yelled, though even he didn't believe it would be enough. This wasn't a fairytale after all. "Gaara! You've got to wake up! You have to wake up and make it stop!"

Shukaku laughed. "**He can't hear! Your voice won't reach! Not even when you scream and beg…**" it told him, its voice carrying a terrifying promise.

"Then I'll wake him up myself!" Naruto swore.

Inside, he was still trembling.

'How? How? How can I reach him? I've got nothing that can go against a demon! I'm just a genin. I'm just a human!' Even the blade in his hand shook. It seemed laughable compared to the behemoth in front of him.

His eyes slid to it, its gleaming edge.

'No. No! I am a ninja! I am a shinobi of Sunagakure! I have all I need – _a blade finer than any sword!_'

One step, another, and Naruto was suddenly charging at the demon full-stop. Shukaku laughed mockingly, sweeping one giant arm at him as if batting away a fly.

Drawing his arm back, Naruto focused as much chakra as he could into his blade and threw it with all his strength. It spun through the air, end over end – an inaccurate, inefficient method – but he didn't need good aim or distance.

It cut into the giant sand arm like a buzzsaw, going in deep even though it wasn't enough to sever cleanly. Not slowing down in his sprint, Naruto pushed chakra into his feet and jumped high into the air, toward the demon's head.

Shukaku screeched, more in fury than in pain, and swung its other arm, the open claw heading straight for Naruto. His eyes flitted to it for just an instance before focusing again on his goal – Gaara, above and between its glaring eyes, ahead and above him.

As he reached the apex of his jump, Naruto seemed to hang in the air for a moment, forming a seal with one hand. The giant claw was almost upon him, closing, when Naruto yelled, "Witness, my own creation, _Uzu no jutsu!_"

The cutting winds of the technique burst out around him, tearing through the claw and sending the sand in a wild spiral, even as they pushed him higher into the air, up toward his target.

"Gaara! Wake up!" Naruto yelled, as he passed over the demon's head and began to fall. "Gaara!" Flip and reverse – and the same principle he'd used to rise up pushed him down faster than the demon could react.

Shukaku screeched, but it was a moment too late, and Naruto collided with Gaara, jolting him suddenly, startlingly awake.

The changeover rippled through the monstrous form, the demon's chakra disappearing and releasing the mass of sand. Loosing its shape, it flowed away, over the mountainside, the two boys carried along by the flow.

'How's that, Mom?' Naruto thought fuzzily as his eyes drifted closed in exhaustion. 'I _flew_.'

/~/~

For a long time, Gaara could only lay still, looking up into the sky as sunset began to dye it violet, orange, red. His head shifted a little and his eyes drifted to Naruto, partly draped over him and unconscious. 'It seems like he's not wounded… There's no blood,' he thought.

The odd, suspended stillness broke as a figure appeared nearby and jumped to land beside them. Gaara turned his gaze to his teacher, studying the man as Baki observed him in return.

"What happened?" Baki asked finally, whatever emotions he was feeling carefully hidden.

Gaara thought for a moment. "I think… I fell asleep," he answered slowly. "There was a feeling of drifting away… and of other thoughts mixing with my own."

'Fell asleep? Or maybe knocked unconscious,' Baki thought. 'But this time was different than before…'

He remember what it had been like the last time Gaara had slept – Gaara's tiny child figure being slowly covered in sand, forming a raccoon's ear, a disproportioned claw, a tail. Shukaku had taken control of his host's body and added on to it piece by piece.

"Shukaku appeared, in its own form," Baki informed Gaara, still observing his student carefully. 'Is it because he has more chakra now? Or rather, because his body is more attuned to Shukaku's chakra?'

Gaara stared back, showing no surprise. Baki sighed, flipping through a short series of seals and laying a glowing hand on Naruto's back. "Not injuries, just chakra exhaustion," he said, then snorted. "The little moron refused to leave you. He must be the luckiest fool in the world to have actually managed to wake you up. He won't be so lucky again."

With a quiet grunt, Gaara managed to sit up and scoot back to sit against a boulder half-submerged in the sand, shifting so that Naruto lay against his shoulder. The other boy mumbled quietly in his sleep. "R-ramen…" he moaned and flailed weakly. Gaara's lips twitched, and he lowered his head, hiding his expression.

"Sensei," Gaara said, startling Baki quite badly. He had never used that form of address before – to anyone. "My chakra is returning quickly, though I can't move. You should find Kankurou."

Baki stared for a moment, unsure how to respond. "Yes," he said slowly. "I doubt anyone will come looking too soon, even those Konoha-nin." 'Since Naruto had to go and given that jounin our best bargaining chip,' he mentally added. 'But Gaara is oddly interested in getting rid of me.' Standing, he couldn't help add, "I'll need to hurry if I want to catch Kankurou before he runs all the way to Snow Country."

Glancing back, he met Gaara's wide-eyed stare. "_A-aa_," Gaara agreed almost hesitantly.

'I can't believe I said that. That brat is really rubbing off on me,' Baki thought, a bit horrified, as he shunshined away.

Gaara watched him go, still a little discomfited. The sky was almost completely dark when he finally looked away, distracted by Naruto suddenly squirming.

"Ramen?" Naruto mumbled into Gaara's shirt, where he had left a spot of drool.

"No," Gaara replied simply.

Blearily, Naruto looked up and stared for a moment. "Gaara?" he tried instead. His face scrunched up sleepily. "Wha' happen'? I feel… beat," he grumbled, stifling a groan as he sat up on his own. His gaze cleared and sharpened as he studied his teammate. "And what happened to you? You look… tired too."

The two locked stares for a moment before Naruto's face shifted as he recollected what occurred. "W-wow… uh, just… wow," he stammered. "I…" 'Got really lucky. So lucky,' he thought. 'I can't believe I'm still alive. That was just…'

He felt shaken and almost panicked, like everything he had refused to feel in the face of imminent death was coming back now, when it was already over. In front of him, very faintly, Gaara trembled. It could have been exhaustion. But…

Instead, Naruto grinned widely and said, "I… am awesome. It's too bad no one saw because I was totally amazing just then. The stuff legends are made of! I'm definitely well on my way to becoming a legendary shinobi!"

Gaara let out a breath, a sigh really – in anyone else, mixed relief and affectionate exasperation. His eyes met Naruto's again, and Naruto suddenly thought he looked tired, not just because of the deep, permanent bags around his eyes, but also he looked somehow better too.

'Maybe a nap did him good?' he thought, trying to keep the hysterical edge out of his smile.

Looking away, Gaara nodded to himself.

"When I was a child," he began, "my father taught me the shinobi arts, one after another, to make me a better weapon. Even then, I was a dangerous thing, over-protected, spoiled and left alone. I thought that was love… Until _that_ incident occurred."

Naruto was watching him, serious and silent. Being the one focus of that intent look, being the one to receive that consideration – it made Gaara feel something he couldn't quite define.

'Saying this might be the end of it, but I can't _not_ say it either. I have to tell him, even if it makes him run away. Is this what they call courage?' he wondered.

"A being that is too strong eventually becomes an embodiment of fear," Gaara continued, the words coming almost against his will. "Since I was born through a forbidden technique, my mind was unstable. When the village finally noticed my emotions were unpredictable, I came to be seen as too dangerous. I became a relic of the past they wish to be rid of."

Although he remained silent, Naruto scowled deeply, a rare expression of honest, deep anger on his face. Gaara glanced away before speaking again.

"At that time, the Kazekage began to send assassins after me. Even though I killed _him_, I realized my existence… had become unwanted. Why was I still alive? I wondered. Why do I exist and live? The answer I found… I felt alive when I killed. By killing those that sought to kill me, I validated my existence. I began to think that I existed to kill others. As long as there was someone for me to kill, I was happy…"

Naruto shifted suddenly, bumping their shoulders and pressing their sides together. He tried to grin sheepishly, but even Naruto couldn't smile through this. Instead, he looked away with an angry, troubled expression.

"You… looked really far away all of a sudden," he explained lamely, rebelliously leaning in a little further. He was warm, in the cool evening air.

'That… wasn't happiness, probably,' Gaara thought. 'Just a few words make me feel more alive than a hundred deaths…'

"But," Naruto spoke up, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "you said '_him_' and '_that incident_'…"

Taking a deep breath, Gaara nodded. "Yes. It started with him, with that incident… That person's name was Yashamaru. He was my uncle, my mother's brother…"

/~/~

Despite Baki's well-founded insinuations, Kankurou had not gone very far.

He had stopped as soon as Shukaku was out of sight, its laughter no longer audible. Balancing on a pine tree, he looked back over his shoulder with a scowl. He shook his head and turned to run again, only to stop and glance back once more.

'Damn it!' Kankurou thought angrily. 'I need to worry about my own skin here! That's demon, a real monster! It's not like it's going to harm Gaara, and the other two are smart enough to just run…'

But even as he thought that, Kankurou twitched and scowled. 'Well, Baki-sensei is smart enough, but that shrimp Naruto…'

"Enough! There's nothing I can do anyway!" he yelled, immediately feeling foolish when his voice echoed a little across the empty forest.

'But I should at least check to see what happens,' Kankurou found himself reasoning. 'I mean, I'll have to report on it, and they might get injured or trapped or something… I'll keep my distance and it won't even notice me. ..Right?'

Dropping down to the ground, he began to slink back toward the battlefield, one thought resurfacing. 'What am I _doing_?'

The sun had set and the sky was darkening by the time Kankurou made it back to where Shukaku had appeared. The area was eerily quiet now, only the deep gouges in the mountain side and the ragged remains of the landslides showing what had occurred. Pockets of sand remained in cracks and crevices, but it was continually being carried away by the wind.

"I'm sure this is the place," Kankurou muttered to himself. "But… it's gone. Did Gaara really calm down that easily?" The wind moaned through the crags, and Kankurou felt a shiver go up his spine. 'Or… is it still here?' he thought suddenly.

Immediately, he felt like a fool. "Get a hold of yourself!" he yelled at himself. "It's a giant sand monster! It doesn't sneak or hide!" '… Not outside a desert, anyway.'

"But more to the point, I don't see anyone," Kankurou muttered. "And the landscape got so rearranged, I can't really tell where anyone would be if they… died."

"Kankurou!" a strong voice called out, making the puppeteer jump in surprise. He spun around to find Baki approaching him. Giving him a quick once-over, Baki shook his head. "Well, at least you're fine."

"Uh, yeah," Kankurou squirmed a little. "What about the brats?"

Baki sighed, covering his face with one hand. "They're… alright, more or less. Frankly, I'm amazed that neither was really injured. Both are almost completely out of chakra though. I left them not too far away," he said, gesturing down the slope. "Now, since you're here, we should try to find Kurosuki Raiga's body. Otherwise, Kiri will most likely refuse to pay the bounty."

"Right…" Kankurou agreed reluctantly, splitting up with Baki to search. 'Great, looking for a psycho killer's body, just what I wanted to do,' he thought sourly, jumping between boulders. He narrowed his eyes against the growing darkness, as night descended on the mountain.

Something moved at the edge of his vision, making Kankurou stumble a little. Spinning around, he threw a shuriken on reflex.

But the weapon only lodged into another boulder. As Kankurou tried to find his opponent, something moved in the shadows behind the large stone. He watched, shocked and confused, as the blurry figure seemed to beckon to him and then disappear, only to reappear in another shadow further away.

"S-Sensei!" Kankurou yelled, hoping Baki hadn't gone too far. 'A ghost? Don't tell me this place is cursed now!'

A moment later, Baki shunshined next to him, scowl firmly in place. "You're a shinobi, Kankurou," he hissed. "Are you _trying_ to let everyone know where we are?"

"Forget about that," Kankurou replied, eyes still firmly fixed on the strange apparitions. He jabbed his finger in the direction of the shimmering shadows. "Look! Look! What is that?"

Baki's eyes narrowed as he turned in the direction Kankurou was pointing. Again, something seemed to move in the almost pitch-black shadows between the rocks. 'Genjutsu? No, this is something else,' he thought.

"Kankurou, stay back," Baki ordered. Moving cautiously, he stepped forward. As expected, the strange illusion moved a little further back. 'It seems to be leading somewhere. It might be a trap, but there's no choice but to follow it,' he thought.

The illusion – whatever it was – didn't act like genjutsu. It was indistinct, lacking even a set shape. Instead, it was an almost imperceptible _shift_ of something, almost like the air wavering over hot sand in the desert. 'Mirage,' Baki thought. It seemed to hide from the moonlight, jumping between shadows just at the edge of perception.

Finally, he seemed to reach whatever he was being guided to. The mirage flickered for a moment in every shadow, forming a circle around a large bag of some kind. Gesturing for Kankurou to stay back, Baki approached the sack. As he knelt next to it, the bag suddenly wiggled.

Turning it over, he found a zipper and pulled it down. The bag's sides parted, revealing a pale young boy, who stared up at Baki with strangely empty eyes.

"You found me," the boy said quietly, only turning his head slightly to look Baki in the eye. His appearance was unearthly, almost glowing in the moonlight, his pale hair cut evenly at his chin.

The jounin frowned. "Who are you? Were you the one causing those illusions?" he demanded. Behind him, Kankurou cautiously approached and peered over Baki's shoulder.

"My name is Ranmaru. Yes, I led you here," the boy replied, showing no reaction to Baki's intimidating look. "I can't move on my own, you see. Before… Raiga carried me."

"Eh? This kid is that Kurosuki Raiga's follower?" Kankurou said, leaning in closer. "And what's that ability, anyway? It wasn't like any genjutsu I've seen."

Baki leveled a glare at him, making Kankurou's mouth snap shut, as Ranmaru turned to regard him instead. "It's not genjutsu. It's an ability that I have… I used it to help Raiga in his battles. I can also… see things that are far away," he said.

'He could be dangerous,' Baki thought. 'But he could also be useful. Who knows where Kurosuki got him and just how far his abilities go.' "We'll take you with us," he said, making his decision. "You are now our prisoner, so don't try to escape or fight us." Jerking his head to Kankurou, Baki directed him to carry the child.

Kankurou grumbled as he bent down and lifted Ranmaru easily, carrying him under one arm. 'He's a lot lighter than Karasu,' he thought absently. 'Ah, Karasu… It's gonna take ages to get it back into shape.'

"Should we head back now?" Kankurou asked, trying not to think about the damages to his precious puppet.

Baki shook his head. "We still need to find Kurosuki's body. Our mission isn't complete unless we bring it back – or at least his head, as proof."

"But it's really dark now. Who knows where he ended up," Kankurou whined. 'Hasn't this day been long enough? I don't want to search blindly in the dark.'

Ranmaru looked up at him, tilting his head to one side. "I can show you where Raiga is," he offered.

Both Baki and Kankurou stared at him, the former in consideration, the latter in disbelief. "How do you know?" Kankurou wondered, but Ranmaru offered no reply. "Is you ability some kinda doujutsu? Still, he's got to be far from here…"

Slowly, Ranmaru raised one arm to point. "He's that way."

"His body?" Kankurou repeated.

"Mm," Ranmaru agreed, bobbing his head up and down.

Frowning, Baki crossed his arms and looked down at the child forbiddingly. "More to the point, why should we trust you?"

"I can't do anything to harm you by myself. I can't attack anyone," Ranmaru told him, looking up at the jounin with wide, clear eyes. He looked away just as quickly, letting his hair fall in his face. "Please don't leave me alone," he whispered.

Following Ranmaru's directions, they arrived at the bottom of gorge, where a mass of boulders from the recent battle stood like a grave mound. Looking around, Kankurou's eyes fell on one of Raiga's Lightning Fang swords, wedged between two stones.

"Are we… gonna have to dig?" Kankurou asked, distaste clear in his voice.

Baki frowned. "No," he decided. "Stand aside." Raising his arm, he molded a small amount of chakra and concentrated it. The blade of wind lashed out, cutting through the rocks.

"You should be able to reach him now," Ranmaru said quietly, as clouds of dust billowed out around them. He tugged at Kankurou's sleeve, urging him forward, and the puppet-user complied, coughing and trying to wave the dust away.

He toed at the rubble before his eyes caught on a bit of flesh, just barely visible among the dirt. Setting Ranmaru down next to him, Kankurou began to dig, slowly uncovering one arm. "Hey, sensei! I found it!" he called out over his shoulder, momentarily turning away.

"Raiga," Ranmaru whispered, reaching out to grasp the much larger hand of the missing-nin. "I won't let you die like this. I won't… hold a funeral for you…"

Energy – chakra – glowed faintly as it gathered around him and flowed out into still, buried body. Kankurou spun around, staring in surprise, while Baki moved swiftly toward his student and prisoner, but it was too late for either to do anything.

Smiling faintly, Ranmaru collapsed, his tiny form sliding off the mound. Lightning crackled and jumped between the rocks, making Kankurou back away, shielding his eyes against the sudden light.

The stones exploded outward, blow away by a strong burst of chakra. Kurosuki Raiga staggered to his feet, one sword still clutched in his hand. Although his clothing was scuffed and torn, with several large blood stains, he didn't seem to have any other injuries – or perhaps they had been healed.

Raiga's dark eyes scanned the scene around him, quickly taking in Kankurou, backing away, Baki, dropping into a fighting stance… and Ranmaru, lying motionless on the ground.

"Ranmaru!" Raiga called out. He started to move toward the boy, but Baki quickly stood between them, molding chakra and holding out a kunai threateningly. Raiga scowled, falling back a little. "Ranmaru! Ranmaru, wake up! Playing dead isn't funny!" he yelled, his voice trembling.

There was no reply, and Raiga's expression quickly morphed into rage. "You bastards! What did you do to him?" he demanded, turning his glare on Baki.

"It was his own doing," Baki said coldly. "He transferred his energy to you… and you came back to life."

Raiga took a step back, raising his empty hand to stare at it in surprise. Green light – like a medical ninjutsu – still lingered in his palm. "Ranmaru…" he whispered, pained.

'He's distracted,' Baki thought, snapping into action. Thrusting one hand forward, he released his wind blade. Unfortunately, he had underestimated Raiga. The missing-nin dodged, just barely, and raised his swords. A lightning bolt crackled along his sword and struck between them, sending Baki back a step.

"My head's all messed up," Raiga muttered, slouching and letting his hair fall in his face. "I don't understand… why things ended up like this. Whose fault is this? Yours?" Falling back a little, neither Baki nor Kankurou made any move to deny it. "That's right! If you hadn't come, Ranmaru and I would still be together!" Raiga yelled, glaring at them through his bangs.

Moving almost faster than they could follow, he launched a ball of lightning at them. Kankurou scrambled out of the way, while Baki retaliated with a quick burst of wind. Raiga raised his sword and let electricity run through it, cancelling out the wind technique. His furious expression didn't change as he yelled, "I'll have your corpses as tribute at Ranmaru's funeral!" But he was forced back a step, blocking another attack from Baki.

'Lightning is weak to wind,' Baki thought. 'I should be able to wear him down, especially in his condition…'

Sense seemed to finally return to Raiga as the same thought seemed to occur to him. Instead of continuing the battle, he suddenly darted back, retrieving his second sword and jumping up onto a nearby cliff.

"I'll find you," he swore furiously. "The lightning will strike, and I'll kill you all." Before either of the Suna-nin could intercept, he shunshined away.

Baki stared after him for a moment, then frowned and turned away sharply. Picking up Ranmaru's still body, he gestured to Kankurou. "Let's go. We need to get back to Gaara and Naruto," he said. "It seems this mission isn't over yet."

/~/~

/~/~

I-if you're still reading this, I am amazed. I love you guys. J-just… *sobs* _I don't even know what's happening anymore!_

**N-Naruto beat Shukaku? What the hell?**

A: Naruto got really, really lucky. To start with, he didn't beat a demon, he just woke up Gaara. Shukaku would have regenerated its limbs very quickly if Naruto hadn't been able to carry through all the way.

Then, the terrain was in Naruto's favor. The whole battlefield is basically a mountainside, with cliffs here and there. This means that, unlike in the flat forest, Naruto is basically eye-level to Shukaku to start with – which really works in his favor for reaching its head where Gaara is.

Finally, Shukaku basically underestimated and failed to predict Naruto. Who the hell is dumb enough to charge head first? Also, it seemed to have recognized him and wanted to kill him more slowly and painfully. A nice Drilling Air Bullet would have squashed him, but Shukaku was aiming to catch him (it seems?) in its sand.

So, yeah.

Aside from that… …Naruto is surprisingly clingy. I thought for sure Gaara was the crazy one, but, uh, Naruto's not looking too sane either. Almost… _yandere_. "You're not allowed to leave me!", kinda. Fffffffff wut.

Finally, I hope no one minds that I'm leaving out most of the Yashamaru flashback. We all know what happens there, right?

Next chapter: Ranmaru and Raiga's backstory. Angst. Angst, angst, angst.

/~/~

/~/~


	11. Sneak out

/~/~

/~/~

Title: New Wind Nation Waking ~(新風国)~

Chapter: 11 / Sneak out

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

Notes: Part 4 of 5 in River Country Arc. Ranmaru and Raiga backstory.

/~/~

/~/~

The night was peaceful, the stars and the moon shining silently, only a faint wind stirring over the rocks, the sand and the pines scattered between.

Naruto was a warm weight against Gaara's side, having fallen asleep again. As he flailed again in his sleep, Gaara looked down at the other boy thoughtfully. "Another miso please," Naruto mumbled to himself, throwing out an arm and trying to chew on Gaara's shirt before quieting again.

Slowly, Gaara turned back to look at the starry sky.

_His story was drawing to a close, but this was the worst part – the climax. "When I pulled off the assassin's mask, I saw that it was Yashamaru," Gaara told Naruto in a monotone. "He said… he had been ordered to kill me because I could not control Shukaku and the sand to a sufficient degree, so I had become a threat to the village."_

_For a moment, he had to stop, unable to continue. Involuntarily, he shuddered. Point of no return. "But Yashamaru said he could have refused the order. He took the mission because, deep in his heart… he truly hated me," Gaara stated bleakly. "He said, 'You took the life of my beloved sister when you were born. My sister's memento… I tried to love you by thinking of you as her treasured child… But I couldn't. My sister did not wish for your birth. She became this village's sacrifice, and she died cursing this village. After that, I carried a wound that could never heal._

_" 'My sister gave you your name. "This child's name is Gaara. An Asura that loves only himself. Love only yourself, and fight only for yourself. By doing so, you can continue to exist…" Your name carries those wishes. But my sister did not give you that name because she cared for you or loved you. She gave you that name so that you could continue to exist…. because she hated and cursed this village as she died, and she wanted her deep hatred… to exist and remain. To let others know of it. You were not loved._

_" 'This is it. Please die.' " Gaara closed his eyes, see the scene again in his mind's eye. He remembered Yashamaru's confession word-for-word. He concluded, "Then, he activated the explosive tags he carried, trying to kill us both. But, the sand protected me… That was when I understood I was alone."_

_One hand drifted up to his crimson tattoo. 'That was when I marked myself like this,' he thought. Slowly, he turned to face Naruto._

_His teammate was staring at him, a strange, unreadable expression on his face. Realizing Gaara's attention was on him again, Naruto tried to form a smile, but all that appeared was a twisted half-grin before he dropped his head, hiding his expression. His shoulders shook. _

_"Naruto…" Gaara began, only to be suddenly cut off._

_"Liar! Bastard!" Naruto yelled. Jumping to his feet, he swept out his arm violently, as if trying to hit some invisible opponent. "That man-! That bastard was-! He was a complete liar! What the hell did he know about love? How dare he try to make you carry all those burdens? His own hatred, pain and guilt – he should have carried them himself! And that woman too! Both of them just-!"_

_Drawing a shuddering breath, Naruto shook his head violently, only to sway on his feet and collapse again. _

_"What the hell was wrong with those people?" Naruto wondered, his tone still angry but dulled. "Everyone commits so many horrible sins, and then they force them onto others – onto us! Even though it's my home, Sunagakure is like that too! It's a horrible place where so many unspeakable things were done…"_

_Hissing angrily, he reached up and pulled off his headband, his hand clenching tightly around the metal plate. His shoulders shook violently, but no tears fell. _

_"I hate that man," he declared bleakly. "I guess I should try to understand his situation. Maybe I will, later. But right now, I just really hate him for doing that to you." _

_Naruto fell silent, his shoulders drooping. His thumb caressed the engraved symbol of Sunagakure. "Don't believe him," he said suddenly, not looking up. "I'm sorry, that's kinda selfish, but… I don't want you to believe ugly lies like that!" _

_"They weren't lies," Gaara said quietly._

_Naruto snorted. "You didn't kill your mother," he said. "The Kazekage and Shukaku did. That wasn't your fault at all… But more than that…" _

_He looked up, his eyes staring into Gaara's fiercely. "I don't know about her feelings or your uncle's, but I know that right now, you're important to me! I already told you, you're my first real friend. You're my friend! Do you get what that means? Without you, I would…" He shook his head._

_ "At that battle just now, I was so scared. I was shaking… I wanted to run. But I couldn't leave you. I didn't want you to disappear. I didn't want to be alone again. That's why I found the strength to fight. Even if it's demons or monsters, I'll face them, if that's what it takes for us to stay friends!" Naruto declared, as if he expected Gaara to object. _

" 'Love is the spirit of devoting yourself to someone important and close to you… It is expressed by caring for and protecting the person.' He said some good things too," Gaara whispered to himself.

He had a lot to think about – a whole worldview to re-evaluate and reconsider. But even lost in thought, Gaara easily noticed the clumsy approach of a dozen or so strangers. "Naruto," he said quietly, nudging the other boy awake. "Someone is coming. Wake up."

Naruto woke with a surprising lack of fuss, his eyes simply sliding open. "Enemies?" he whispered back. "…I don't think I'm gonna be any use."

"Don't move," Gaara said quietly. 'My chakra is still low, but it should be enough. If nothing else, the sand shield seems to be working again,' he calculated mentally.

There was plenty of sand around them, and Gaara surreptitiously began to spread his chakra into it. With barely a whisper, it began to shift at his will. 'Ready…' he thought. Just in time, as dark-cloaked figures began to step out of the shadows. Gaara's eyes narrowed and flickered to the sides, noting the position of the thugs that remained hidden.

"What've we got here?" one sneered. "A couple of brats, all worn out."

"We'll show you, even if Raiga-sama's gone, the Kurosuki family is eternal," another added.

But before either side could make their move, a familiar green whirlwind appeared between the Kurosuki Familiy and the Suna shinobi. Two kicks and a punch, lightning-fast, knocked the first group out, and Lee dropped into a fighting stance, one hand extended.

"That's as far as you go!" he declared. The two hidden groups of thugs growled and charged, unsheathing their claws. But Lee was much faster, attacking and disabling four more Family members before they even realized what was happening.

Shocked cries of pain came from the shadowed hiding spots of the other would-be attackers, and a few moments later Lee's teammates stepped out into the open. The girl Tenten twirled a pair of tonfa skillfully while the other boy Neji flipped his hair back over his shoulder and crossed his arms.

"Well done, my dear students!" their teacher declared, descending suddenly to land behind them in whirlwind of leaves and sand. "Magnificent!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Hi!" Naruto broke into the exchange with somewhat forced cheer. "It's you guys again! I'm glad you're okay." He waved, carefully and without his usual energy.

"You people," Gaara noted. "Why did you help us?"

"Because you needed help!" Lee exclaimed guilelessly, giving the two of them a bright, sparkling grin. "As I promised, I will end the tyranny of the Kurosuki Family and help all those oppressed by them!"

"Yosh! What a Youthful sentiment, Lee!" Gai praised his student. "Your pure, Youthful spirit is an inspiration! When we return home, I will rescue three hundred cats to match your Youthfulness!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Sensei," Tenten broke in, "I don't think there _are_ that many cats in Konoha, especially not ones that need rescuing."

Naruto laughed cheerfully, sitting up a little straighter. "Thanks a lot for your help! About before… sorry. That was pretty… rude of us." He smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Watching him thoughtfully, Gaara seemed to come to a decision and turned to face the Konoha-nin. "I apologize for attacking you needlessly," he added formally, making Naruto glance at him in surprise.

"It's all forgiven! Think nothing of it!" Lee exclaimed, grinning again. "I acted rashly as well."

"Since you gave me the antidote, helping you like this is the least we could do," Gai added, his eyes momentarily serious, before he matched Lee's bright grin and pose. Tenten looked a little uncomfortable, but she forced a smile. Behind her, Neji snorted quietly.

Naruto smiled as well. "Oh, wait!" he said suddenly. "I haven't introduced myself! I'm Naruto and this is Gaara! It's nice to meet you!"

"Maito Gai!"

"Rock Lee!"

"Hyuuga Neji."

"Just Tenten is fine."

"Isn't that nice?" Kankurou asked, stepping out from behind the stone Gaara and Naruto leaned against. The Konoha genin tensed, preparing for a fight, but Kankurou just eyed them unhappily.

Naruto jerked his thumb toward the puppeteer. "And this big chicken is Kankurou," he introduced.

"Shut up, you pipsqueak," Kankurou growled. "I can't believe this. We leave you alone for, what, ten minutes, and you're already making nice-nice with…" Apparently speechless, he gestured toward the Konoha-nin.

"With allies!" Naruto filled in. "Isn't that great? It's totally cool." At Kankurou's annoyed and clearly disbelieving look, he added helpfully, "Gaara likes them too."

"And what happened to calling you _The Great and Valiant Uzu no Naruto-sama_?" Kankurou switched tracks almost seamlessly.

"Well, if you insist," Naruto agreed, nodding magnanimously.

Unlike his students, Gai had noticed Kankurou's approach. He had also noticed Kankurou's teacher, moving silently up behind the group. "Abandoning your students wasn't enough – you'll use them as bait and distraction too?" he wondered under his breath, almost as if talking to himself, though he knew without a doubt that the Suna jounin would hear.

"Not at all," Baki replied equally quietly, seemingly materializing out of the shadows. "And you?"

Gai snorted quietly. "Don't compare me to your kind," he said. "I won't resort to your tactics."

"Not in front of your brats anyway," Baki insinuated, though Gai only gave him an angry, disgusted look. With a final smirk, Baki stepped forward, instantly catching the attention of the assembled genin – only Gaara and Kankurou had known he had arrived, and only Gaara gave no visible reaction. "We have a situation," Baki declared, moving to the center of the small clearing and laying down Ranmaru's still body.

"What do you mean, Baki-sensei?" Naruto asked. "And who's that boy? Is he alright?"

"He's dead and Kurosuki Raiga's not," Kankurou stated flatly.

"He seemed to give his life to save Kurosuki, but…" Baki trailed off, holding one faintly glowing hand over Ranmaru's body. Suddenly, the boy coughed and groaned faintly. 'It was only a death-like trance,' Baki thought.

"R-Raiga…" Ranmaru whispered faintly.

"Well, he _was_ dead!" Kankurou complained the background as Naruto gave him a particularly insufferable look.

With the ease of long practice, Baki ignored his students and instead continued, "This boy possess unknown special abilities, so he needs to be guarded carefully, though I doubt he'll be able to do anything in the near future."

"He's got a high fever," Naruto noted, having crawled over to Ranmaru's side. "Do we have any medicine?"

"Of course not," Kankurou grumbled, crossing his arms sulkily. "Though, if it's just a fever… I suppose I could mix something…" Naruto beamed at him with obvious admiration, making Kankurou look away in disgruntled exasperation.

Baki pointedly continued to ignore them. "Thus, you will stay here and guard him, while I take care of Kurosuki Raiga," he plowed onward. There was a momentary pause as his students realized what he had ordered them to do and began to voice their inevitable complaints.

"Doesn't that sort of the defeat the whole point?" Kankurou asked, a hint of drawl in his voice. Although vague enough to get by the Konoha-nin, his question was clear. 'Aren't we here to see how Gaara does against a high-level ninja? If you fight the target instead, there's no point.'

Baki sighed faintly. "Things have already gone outside our original mission parameters. At this point, I'm not willing to gamble," he said somewhat vaguely. 'With both Gaara and Naruto exhausted and Karasu broken, you brats run a very real risk of dying,' he thought. 'The council will complain, but they won't do anything else.'

"Eh? Sensei, are you really gonna be okay?" Naruto burst out. As soon as the words left his mouth, he flushed and backtracked quickly. "I mean, of course, you're amazing and super strong, but isn't he a really dangerous missing-nin? We're supposed to always take backup!"

'_Now_ he remembers basic Academy lessons?' Baki wondered, a little annoyed despite himself. "I have several advantages over Kurosuki…" he began in a long-suffering tone.

"No need to worry!" Gai cut him off, clapping Baki heavily on the back. "Against the evil renegade Kurosuki Raiga, I Maito Gai will certainly aide our allies!"

'What,' Baki thought flatly, but after years on the Advisory Council, he no longer had his students' lack of brain-to-mouth filter. Instead, he said diplomatically, "We greatly appreciate your offer, but this is a mission given to and accepted by Sunagakure no Sato. Thus, it would hardly be appropriate for us to…"

"Nonsense!" Gai laughed. "We swore to end the Kurosuki Family's reign of terror! And, of course, we couldn't possibly accept any compensation," he added, the last part in a different tone, just a hint of mocking.

'Well, I doubt they would hire us again after all this,' Baki thought.

"Yosh, Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaimed, tears streaming from his eyes. "Such an honorable act! Then, I will definitely help Naruto-san, Gaara-san, and Kankurou-san guard Kurosuki Raiga's ally!"

"That's great, sensei! I'm glad everyone's getting along now!" Naruto cheered alongside Lee. Their remaining teammates looked far less enthusiastic, though their expressions, while doubtful, were not openly cynical.

'They really are so young,' Baki thought. 'They have not lived through war, and they can't imagine smiling, saying polite things and then backstabbing each other at first opportunity – the way we did back then, and the way we old soldiers still do.'

Glancing at Gai, he watched the Konoha jounin go off on another round of exclamations and poses with Lee, in turn making his other students cringe in embarrassment. 'Konoha-nin are not as soft as they try to appear, but they are fond of pretending. I doubt he would be willing to try much with his students so close…' Reluctantly, Baki admitted to himself, 'It would be problematic explaining things to Naruto, from my end as well…'

The two jounin exchanged a look of understanding. 'Today we are allies, and a shinobi cannot be bound by thoughts of yesterday or tomorrow.'

"Then, we will deal with Kurosuki Raiga," Baki agreed.

"While you, my dear students, guard the prisoner and protect our allies!" Gai added.

Tension heavy between them, the two jounin shunshined away.

The silence that followed, falling over the six genin, was distinctly uncomfortable. "So!" Tenten said suddenly, the atmosphere getting to her the fastest, "Does anyone else think it's kind of overkill for all of us to guard one little boy?"

"All of us? It would be more correct to say 'our team'," Neji said haughtily, giving the Suna team a mocking look.

"Neji! You shouldn't say such unYouthful things about our allies!" Lee chastised his teammate.

"You shouldn't be so naïve," Neji shot back. "Don't forget that these people were perfectly willing to poison and kill us not long ago. The only thing stopping them now is that they stand no chance against us in their current state."

Gaara seemed to be ignoring them entirely, closing his eyes and focusing on restoring his chakra reserves, while Kankurou twitched slightly but continued to go through his supplies and poison ingredients. 'Better not antagonize them, I suppose,' he thought grumpily. 'Even if they're really pissing me off…'

"Hey! We could totally take you!" Naruto protested, scowling, though he failed to look in the least bit threatening. 'What do they know,' he thought sulkily. 'We're totally awesome. Even Kankurou… probably.'

"Two of you are almost entirely out of chakra, and the other's doll is obviously broken," Neji countered. As Naruto opened his mouth to protest, Neji smirked. "Don't try to deny it. My Byakugan can see your weakness clearly."

"…Baku-gen?" Naruto repeated, incorrectly.

"Byakugan!" Neji bit out. "The Hyuuga clan's White Eyes – my clan's blood inheritance limit!"

"…That's a lame name," Naruto said after a moment, making Neji twitch angrily. "What's a blood limit anyway?"

Studiously ignoring their squabbling until then, Kankurou had to look up at that. "Did you learn _anything_ at Academy?" he demanded, glaring at Naruto, who stared back shamelessly. Sighing in exasperation, Kankurou held out his canteen. "Here, this should get his fever down. I mixed it into the water, so just get him to drink it."

Taking the medicine, Naruto beamed at him. "Thanks! You're actually useful for once, Kankurou!" He laughed as Kankurou growled in response and held the canteen to Ranmaru's lips.

"Anyway," Kankurou said, crossing his arms, "blood inheritance refers to special abilities that some people are born with, usually passed down from their parents."

"Oh…" Naruto drew out.

"That's right," Tenten said, relieved to move on to a different topic. "There are many ninja clans in Konoha, and several possess special bloodlines. The Hyuuga clan is one of the most powerful and influential, famous for their all-seeing Byakugan."

"Eh…" Naruto drew out.

"We don't have clans in Suna, and we don't really have that many bloodlines either," Kankurou said. "We're not like the Bloody Mist or anything, where they were all hunted down. We just never had any." He paused, thinking back on his lessons. "Though, the Sandaime Kazekage had a special bloodline though," he added.

"I didn't know that," Tenten noted, giving Kankurou a tentative smile, as the only two sane, non-confrontational people present. "Our Shodaime Hokage had one too."

Kankurou smirked faintly in return. Turning to Naruto, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did you get that?"

"Uh…" Naruto drew out. "Kinda? Anyway, I think your stuff's working," he said brightly, placing one hand on Ranmaru's forehead and returning Kankurou's now empty canteen. "He's cooler to the touch, and I think he's breathing easier too."

"Of course it's working. I know my bio-chemistry," Kankurou grumbled. "You're completely hopeless. You should at least try to learn about other shinobi and their techniques, especially something famous like the Byakugan. _Everyone_'s heard of it."

"What's so great about it, then?" Naruto asked petulantly.

Kankurou waited for a moment, making Naruto raise a mocking eyebrow in return. 'Looks like they aren't willing to give anything away,' he thought, just a bit disappointed. 'Oh well.' "The Byakugan lets the user see through solid objects and increases their field of vision beyond normal range. It also makes the internal chakra coil system visible. You know what chakra coils are, right?"

Naruto stuck out his tongue. "Of course I do! It's the system of pathways that carry chakra through the body. And I know what chakra is too!" he protested as Kankurou took on a particularly annoying smirk. "It's mental and spiritual energy mixed together, which can be used inside and outside the body to perform special techniques – which are what make ninja awesome and kickass!"

Kankurou nodded with exaggerated admiration. "Very good! Well done!" he praised mockingly.

Hissing – like an angry kitten, really – Naruto settled down to sulk.

/~/~

Looking up at the ominous dark clouds that had appeared to cloak the sky, Kankurou frowned and pushed down a strange feeling of dread.

"It doesn't look good," Tenten said quietly next to him. The two of them had ended up almost as a bridge between their respective teammates occupying opposite ends of the clearing.

"Just my luck," Kankurou muttered as thunder rumbled overhead. "It should be light out already, but you can't even tell in this..."

On the "Suna" side, Naruto suddenly perked up and yelled, "Hey, he's waking up!" After giving him medicine, Naruto had ended up laying Ranmaru across his lap and covering him with his own short cloak. The other boy was so tiny, it reached almost from his shoulders to his knees.

Indeed, Ranmaru stirred and groaned faitnly. His red eyes slid open and slowly focused on Naruto's face, hovering above him.

"How are you feeling?" Naruto asked, his tone unusually soft.

"R.. Raiga?" Ranmaru wondered, voice raspy. Pulling out his canteen, Naruto held it to Ranmaru's lips, the cool water easing the boy's throat. "Where's Raiga?" Ranmaru tried again.

"Who knows?" Kankurou bit out snappishly.

"Then, he got away. I'm glad," Ranmaru murmured, relaxing and letting his eyes slide shut again.

'Not for long,' Kankurou thought, but he held the words back at Naruto's peeved look for his last comment.

"So you were working for Raiga willingly?" Tenten asked carefully. "He didn't force you or anything? If that's the case, we'll really have to treat you as an enemy prisoner."

Ranmaru remained still and calm, apparently emotionless. "I helped Raiga willingly. I would do anything for him - even give my life."

"Why?" Gaara spoke up, drawing surprised looks from the others. "Do you feel 'love' toward him?"

Opening his eyes, Ranmaru turned his head slightly to look gazes with Gaara. "I don't know if it would be called love, but I would do anything for Raiga. I want to stay with him. I need him. Without Raiga, I couldn't go on living."

"Why?" Lee demanded, this time. "Kurosuki Raiga is evil! He kills innocent people, cruelly and mercilessly! How can you care so much for someone like that?"

Ranmaru shook his head. "Good and evil don't matter to me. Raiga saved me, cared for me, took me to the outside into the beautiful wide world, and showed me how to truly live. Without him, I would have died... or, worse, remained the way I was before..." Ranmaru paused, looking across their faces - Neji and Kankurou's apparent disinterest, Gaara's lack of discernible emotion, Naruto and Tenten's concern, Lee's focused attention. All their eyes were on him.

"I'll tell you about it, how I met Raiga," Ranmaru decided.

"The first thing I can remember is the lab. I never had a home or a family. From my earliest memories, I was just a subject, left alone in an empty room until it was time to test me, to see how my abilities progressed. The faceless researchers came and went without ever saying a word to me or even looking at me. I was just a thing to them..."

Abruptly, Naruto shifted, pulling Ranmaru up to lean against him and pressing closer to Gaara on his other side. The same off, not-quite-expression passed over both their faces as Naruto gave ten a sheepish half-grin but didn't even try to excuse his actions.

"Water Country is a pretty screwed up place," Kankurou spoke instead, trying to fill the awkward silence. "They've tried to create super shinobi with special abilities for generations, since the founding of the hidden village or even before, but the ones they made caused so much devastation that people with bloodlines and such came to be regarded as less than human and a curse. They were feared and hunted down in blood purges. But Kirigakure no Sato continues many of their projects, especially the hunters division." He shrugged. "Or so I heard, anyway..."

Ranmaru nodded slowly. "I don't know what they were trying to do or even who they were. I think... I was a failure." At his words, Naruto bristled. Oddly, Gaara seemed to calm as he glanced at his friend. Ranmaru continued, "My ability let me see things, beyond my room and even outside the lab, but my body is very weak. I can't walk or stand up, and I can barely lift my arms. Back then, it was all I could do to sit up on my own...

"That's why they left me. One day, all the researchers left. They took only a few things with them, and abandoned us, the failed subjects, to die. They were just in time. Soon, Raiga came. He'd been sent to stop them, but all he found was me… He came into my room - my prison - and I thought he was going to kill me. I was so happy...

"Once, I saw a funeral in a village near the lab. Everyone cried so much, saying such nice things about the man who died. Even though they had all disliked him when he was alive, at his funeral they could only remember the good things. At the lab, the failed subjects were just dissected and thrown away... I wanted to be remembered like that man, so I asked Raiga to give me a funeral and remember me."

Ranmaru smiled. "Raiga laughed. He said, since he didn't have any good memories of me, there was no point in giving me a funeral. But he also said there as no one to remember him either. So instead, we decided to make many good memories together. And then, the one who survived would give a wonderful funeral to the other."

Finishing his story, Ranmaru fell silent. Around him, the genin wordlessly exchanged heavy looks. Though many of them wanted to protest somehow, words seemed to escape them.

"But how can you remember him well?" Lee burst out. "He's evil! He's oppressing the people of the village and even burying them alive!"

Ranmaru closed his eyes and turned away. "I know Raiga... would be seen like that, but he is Raiga to me. I won't abandon him because he's a vital, irreplaceable part of me."

"But-!"

"Lee!" Tenten cut in, grabbing her teammate by teh arm and pulling him away. She threw an indecipherable, part-apologetic look over in the Suna team's direction as she and Lee retreated to the opposite side of the clearing.

Next to Gaara, Naruto was tense and unhappy. When Gaara glanced at him, he wouldn't meet his eyes, his head lowered. 'A failed weapon, like me,' Gaara thought. 'But the one more similar to me is actually...'

"I have killed people as well," Gaara said quietly. "I killed many people, and not only on missions or when they tried to attacked me. I am evil as well."

"Gaara..." Naruto protested.

"But," Gaara continued, "I believe I can change. I want to change." He paused for a moment, putting his recent thoughts in order. "I learned so much in just a short time. I think I'm finally beginning to understand what it means to be a human and not just a thing, what it means to truly live..."

"To live as human..." Ranmaru repeated, sadly, thoughtfully.

Gaara nodded, looking up into the cloudy sky. Though he couldn't see beyond them, the wind drove the clouds quickly - soon, the storm would pass. "Having someone acknowledge you, accept you as you are, stay beside you - all my life, I longed for that, and gaining that meant more to me than I can express... But, being accepted, I realized I wanted to change, to become someone that person can be proud of, someone who can help them and protect them. I didn't want to cause them any pain, grief or inconvenience. Having a reason to change and move forward - that is just as important. It's changing, step by step, that proves we are alive. It's the proof that we have a future."

For a long time, they sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Leaning into Naruto's shoulder, Ranmaru said quietly. "I... understand. I want to tell Raiga too. The way we are now... I want both of us to have a future..." His shoulders shook with muffled sobs as he hanged his head. "But I don't know... if I'm strong enough. I don't know if I can do anything..."

Petting his pale head gently, Naruto smiled and said, "That's why you ask for help, right?"

/~/~

Lighting flashed, followed immediately by loud, ominous thunder. Naruto sneezed loudly, instantly catching the attention of all teh others in the clearing. Ignoring Neji's glare, he carefully stood and shivered dramatically.

"I think I just got rained on," he declared earnestly. "We should find some shelter and stuff. Or, uh, Ranmaru might get sick. _I_ might get sick."

"That would be bad," Gaara agreed blandly, standing as well. He bent down and gathered up Ranmaru, too big cloak and all, picking him up easily. "We will move to a more sheltered location."

He used his 'or I will crush your insides' voice, though the Konoha genin didn't recognize it as such. Kankurou, however, was well-trained. He jumped to his feet instantly and blurted out, "I saw a house, er, shack! It's only, maybe, five minutes from here!"

"Great! Lead the way!" Naruto 'suggested'.

With a strange feeling of premonition, Kankurou hurriedly moved out. This was probably the fastest he had ever obeyed an order, and with the least amount of fuss. With Kankurou in the lead and Gaara with Ranmaru in the middle, the Konoha-nin fell back as the rear guard.

Naruto seemed entirely too pleased as he caught up to Kankurou. "So," he said, insufferably, cheerfully smug, "Gaara and I are going to take Ranmaru to where Baki-sensei, that Konoha eyebrow guy and Raiga are fighting."

Kankurou couldn't quite find words to express how he felt about this new development. 'Why?' came up, followed by, 'When exactly did you decide this?' and 'Whose brilliant idea was it?' He didn't ask any of it, but realized, 'They must have thought of it after that mushy feeling talk.' Kankurou twitched. As a teenage male, he had been very quick to five Naruto and Gaara their space with Ranmaru. Now, he thought it might have been better to endure and listen.

"Ranmaru says his mirages can fool even that fancy eye-thing, so when we get to the shelter, we'll just need a chance to sneak out," Naruto continued. "After that, we should have enough of a headstart..."

Sighing, Kankurou could only agree. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. I'll stay behind and distract them."

'Not like I want to face Kurosuki Raiga anyway...' he thought, not at all looking forward to the coming fiasco.

/~/~

/~/~

Argh, losing interest... must finish...

Ranmaru and Raiga are both just insane. Different kinds of crazy, but both crazy. Ranmaru, especially, turned out a lot crazier than either Haku or his own canon self.

For those that are wondering, flashbacks are in past-tense (like the rest of the story) if they just show a scene out of order. Flashbacks are in present tense if they're weird dreams or something like that.

Many people had comments about Naruto's little intro speech. Maybe it's the kind of shows I watch, but it's really very standard fare for shounen anime – especially the part about heaven and earth. For those wondering (looking at you EDelta, turn on your personal messaging already so I can reply), he's overcompensating as well. Naruto is terrified, so he acts like he's completely sure of himself. He's trying to convince himself, basically.

"I will carve my mark into all creation, melding heaven and earth! Engrave my name into your deepest memory! _Uzumaki-no-Naruto has appeared before you!_"

「天地を交わって万物に彫っていた印だ!俺の名は記憶に刻み込んで!渦巻きのなると、見参!」

But since you complained, I shortened and simplified.

(V.2: "I will leave my mark on all creation! Burn my name into your deepest memory! _Uzumaki-no-Naruto has appeared before you!_") See, no long words…

Anyway, I got a complaining review~ Not even really a flame. It… actually asked whether I am a girl or just dickless. Yanno, most fanfiction writers are girls. So, guess. And yes, I wrote this because I have nothing better to do. That's why people make _fanfiction_. It's not called "work" for a reason.

Next chapter: FINAL ... I have, like, a paragraph...

/~/~

/~/~


	12. Secret door

/~/~

Title: New Wind Nation Waking ~(新風国)~

Chapter: 12 / Secret door

Author: Kyogre

Summary: Naruto of Sunagakure graduates to genin. Unfortunately, no one except Naruto believes he'll last long – especially not with a teammate like Sabaku no Gaara.

Notes: Part 5 of 5 in River Country Arc [FINAL].

/~/~

/~/~

'It's past dawn now, and we still haven't been able to find Kurosuki or his trail,' Baki thought, frustration building behind his emotionless façade. 'Of course, he is a former hunter-nin, so he is well-trained to remain hidden, and neither of us specializes in tracking.'

He glanced at Gai, who appeared equally professional and impassive, but carried an aura of growing discontent. 'I didn't expect this problem,' Baki admitted to himself. Overhead, thunder rumbled ominously. 'I thought Kurosuki would seek us out himself, looking for revenge – I still think so, but he must be waiting until we are more worn down and the field of battle is most favorable to him…'

Lightning flashed, far closer than Baki had expected. It seemed to arc oddly, striking somewhere just above them on the mountain and wavering in the air a second too long. '_"The lightning will strike, and I'll kill you all,"_ he said. Could it be…?'

"Did you also receive that intelligence about Kurosuki controlling a thunder storm?" Gai asked, his voice terse.

Baki nodded sharply, his eyes scanning their surroundings. "Yes," he began distractedly, but stopped abruptly as both he and Gai tensed – an old warriors' sense of danger flaring. However, neither of them expected what came – electricity arcing up from the ground only an instance before it struck them from below, the last place they had expected it.

The powerful Raiton technique wasn't enough to kill or even knock out the jounin, but both dropped to their knees, stunned and momentarily paralyzed. Kurosuki Raiga's mad laughter echoed above them as he appeared on a cliff. He raised his swords, and wide lightning bolts flashed down at them from the clouds.

Gai managed to roll out of the way of the first and shunshin away from the following, too fast to track or target, but Baki was not quite as quick on his feet. Several successive lightning bolts struck him, making the jounin waver and collapse on all fours.

"That's right," Raiga growled. Lightning danced around his form, throwing strange shadows over his face. "You two… it's your fault. It's your fault Ranmaru is…" He shook his head sharply. "No, no! I have to make a grand funeral for him. I'll wipe you out, and then… I'll be able to remember all the good things about him! All the good times we had together… Ranmaru…"

'He's distracted,' Gai thought, his eyes narrowing. He flickered in and out of sight quickly, finally appearing behind Raiga and aiming a powerful kick at his head. But before he could connect, a bolt of lightning struck him, flush next to Raiga himself.

Dropping to the ground, Gai wavered for a moment, but he just managed to jump away from the next bolt. Slowly, Raiga turned to look over his shoulder. His eyes were wild in his face, but different from before – without the wild fervor, he looked almost like a fresh corpse.

"Ranmaru…" he muttered before his eyes focused on Gai. "That won't work. What level do you think I am?" he added, almost as an afterthought. "I'm not weak, like those brats you brought… you brought… ah…" Raiga's head tipped back as something seemed to shift in his mind. A wide, gapping grin spread across his face and he began to laugh. "That's right… You brought them! Yes! I'll make them… come to Ranmaru's funeral… I'll make them remember him! Good or bad, it doesn't matter, right? As long as he's remembered…"

Raiga's mad laughter mixed with the thunder, rumbling across the mountainside. 'My students? He knows about them…' Gai thought, his stomach suddenly plummeting before he grit his teeth and glared. "You won't lay a hand on them!" he yelled, crouching as chakra flared around him. "This is the technique to protect – _Omote Renge!_"

'That's… Konoha's secret technique!' Baki thought, levering himself up as he tried to dispel the effects of the lightning bolts.

Faster than either of the other two shinobi could follow, Gai kicked Raiga into the air – again using Shadow of the Dancing Leaf – and appeared behind him. Grabbing Raiga around the waist, Gai began to spin them both rapidly. Both became only a single indistinct spiraling shape, plummeting head-first toward the ground.

Suddenly, lightning struck again, hitting them both. Gai pulled away, and Raiga drove into the earth alone, sending up a cloud of dust. 'That was too early,' Gai thought, touching down for a moment and spinning around to attack again. 'He might have been able to avoid the worst of the damage. I have to follow up!'

The force of his spinning kick parted the floating dusk, revealing the crater formed by the attack and Raiga, struggling to his feet. But before Gai could connect, electricity crackled around Raiga, covering him completely, the light hiding his form. As Gai's leg plowed into Raiga's stomach, the electric field burst apart and both shinobi were forcefully thrown apart.

Although battered and holding his midsection, Raiga was the first to rise. He glared up through his long bangs, blood dripping down his face from a hidden wound. "You're s-strong," he hissed. "My _Raigeki no Yoroi_ (Lightning Strike Armor) blocked most of your momentum, but I still took this much damage…"

He straightened and began to walk toward Gai, swaying oddly with each step. His twin swords dragged along the ground, sparkling and crackling. "But," Raiga chuckled, grinning madly, "it's over…"

'I have to act now,' Baki thought, gathering his chakra. The wind swirled around his arm, ready to cut. 'I underestimated him…'

But before either shinobi could act, a young voice rang out across the battlefield.

"Raiga! Stop!"

Naruto and Gaara landed between the combatants, the latter holding Ranmaru. Slowly, Raiga turned to face them, his eyes wide and shocked.

"Ranmaru… you're alive," he whispered, a smile hesitantly spreading across his face and tears gathering in his eyes. "Ranmaru! You're alive!"

"Raiga, you have to stop," Ranmaru said, his eyes darting to the two jounin before locking with Raiga's.

Tilting his head to the side, Raiga laughed. "Oh yeah, that. I was just going to… going to have a funeral for you, like I promised. Well, don't worry, I'll get rid of them quickly."

Ranmaru shook his head. "No, don't, Raiga. Please," he begged. Smiling tumulously, he tried, "Let's change. We can do it, Raiga."

For a long moment, Raiga remained silent. When he spoke, his tone was strange, unreadable. "Don't worry. I'll get rid of them quickly," he repeated, almost forcefully. "And then we can go somewhere new. This place is getting pretty boring anyway, right, Ranmaru?"

"No! You have to stop. Please stop killing people! Stop doing evil things," Ranmaru cried. He tugged on Gaara's sash, quickly catching his eyes. The Suna-nin gently lowered Ranmaru, letting the boy put his feet on the ground. As Gaara released him, Ranmaru swayed, his legs trembling under the strain. Pain twisted his face momentarily, but he looked up, determined. Slowly, he raised his arms to Raiga.

"Please, Raiga. Let's change. I know we can do it. You showed me this beautiful world, and now, I want to show you something too – a world full of people. Please. We don't have to be alone, always running and killing. We can live freely, Raiga," Ranmaru implored. His whole body shook under the stress of trying to remain standing as he reached for his partner.

Raiga shuddered. Gritting his teeth, he hanged his head and shook it furiously, making his long hair sway wildly. "No… No, Ranmaru! We made a promise! Stop saying stuff like that, or we won't be able to stay together!" he yelled. Electricity danced over his swords as he gripped them tightly.

For a single instance, Ranmaru's face was full of hurt and rejection. But then it was gone, and he was suddenly composed again, almost entirely expressionless. His arms dropped to his sides. "Go ahead and have the lightning strike me," he said calmly, raising his chin. "But if I die, your memory will die with me. You'll die with me."

Raiga keened, trembling. He curled into himself and tried to cover his ears with his hands. Just as suddenly, he froze, his eyes wide. He muttered, "I can't remember when you were good anymore…" Turning slowly, he readied his weapons again, an empty, frightening expression on his face. "Don't worry – I'll do as I promised. I'll give you a wonderful funeral!" Lightning flashed, and he grinned.

A bolt burst from the clouds, and Ranmaru dropped to his knees, covering his head. But instead of striking him, the lightning only met sand that had suddenly gathered and risen up over both his and Gaara's heads. As the lightning died away, some of the sand fell over the two, the chakra moving it canceled out.

"Why do you refuse?" Gaara asked, his tone flat yet menacing.

"I, Kusosuki Raiga, don't take orders from anyone!" Raiga yelled, gesturing wildly. His eyes narrowed in a glare, like a cornered animal. "I hate everyone… all the others in Kiri. All the others in the hunters. Ranmaru… you were my only companion. But you broke our promise! You decided you didn't want to stay with me anymore!"

Ranmaru choked back a sob, his earlier composure crumbling away. "That's not true! I want to stay with you, Raiga! I want to stay with you forever!"

"You made other friends now… You don't need me anymore!" Raiga yelled accusingly. "So I… don't need you either."

Gaara narrowed his eyes, his posture tense and angry. "Binding someone to you that closely, so they can no longer even look beyond you… I don't want that. I won't accept that," he said quietly. "Someone who gave you so much deserves more. For someone who gave your life meaning, you owe it to them to set them free."

'I… won't become like that. I'm more than that,' he thought quietly. 'I'm not just…' _A demon who loves only himself._ At his feet, Ranmaru whimpered quietly.

"Free..? Free? We can't be free! I can't-! A monster that hunts in the dark can never-! We're…" Confusion creased Raiga's face as he stared at Gaara, his eyes flickering to Ranmaru. Violently, he shook his doubts away and raised his swords. "Enough! Like I promised! The funeral begins!"

Slamming the hilts together, Raiga linked his two swords and began to spin them above his head. Lightning generated quickly, forming a vortex around him. "Now! My _Rairyuu no Tatsumaki_ (Lightning Dragon Tornado) will devour you!"

Vortex, glowing white and pale blue, took on the form of a dragon's head and lunged for Gaara, its jaws open wide.

"Gaara!" Naruto yelled, running to his friend's side just as the ninjutsu engulfed all three of them. Gaara's sand rose, trying to protect him, but the swirling electric energy quickly wore it down again.

Raising his arm as if to cover his face, Naruto made a sharp, sweeping gesture. Wind-natured chakra burst out, spinning in the opposite direction of the Dragon Tornado. Two forces collided, canceling each other out in a wild explosion that send Naruto diving for Ranmaru, covering the boy with his own body.

As the confusion died down, revealing the combatants again, Gaara slowly raised his head and glared. "That's enough," he said coldly. "Stop this now." His sand surged forward, wrapping tightly around Raiga's legs and climbing steadily.

Raiga chuckled, a strangled barking sound that resembled sobs more than laughter. "I can't! I won't stop! I'll bury you all… Even though I ran away, it's all still there, in my head. I want to bury those memories, but I can't…" He sagged, like a puppet on cut strings. "Even with Ranmaru, they're only gone for a moment. It all keeps coming back. I'm a hunter. I need to hunt. I need to kill..."

To the side, Baki slowly climbed to his feet. "You won't be able to do anything for him," he said quietly, his mouth twisting with a bitter emotion.

"But, sensei!" Naruto began, turning to face his teacher with a desperate expression.

Baki gesture sharply, cutting him off. "You don't know anything yet!" he barked. "For someone that far gone, there's nothing, no future. Do you think I never thought the way you do? Do you know how many friends I lost to the wars even after they ended? He's too dangerous to play around with. He'll kill us all. He won't be able to stop himself."

Humiliated by his own show of emotion, Baki looked away as Naruto drew back.

"He's right…" Raiga whispered. "Hey, Ranmaru, you should forget me. Otherwise, you'll just end up tied down."

Ranmaru sobbed. "Raiga…" he moaned. "I won't! I won't!"

"Then, keep your promise, at least. Remember me well, yeah?"

"I will, I will," Ranmaru swore, covering his eyes as more tears ran down his cheeks.

"Then, we'll give you a grand funeral," Gaara said quietly, raising one hand. Sand swirled all around Raiga, who only grinned madly, releasing swords and spreading his arms wide in welcome. "A desert coffin and…"

Ranmaru keened, and Naruto tensed forcing himself not to look away. Gaara's hand closed into a fist.

"…a desert funeral."

Fresh crimson blood fell like rain.

Then, real, clean rain began to fall.

/~/~

"This place is great! Mom wrote about it, and I remember it too!" Naruto chattered brightly, pushing aside the cloth in the entrance and ducking inside the building – a small red house with a large sign on the front proudly proclaiming it to be Life Curry Shop. On his back, Ranmaru smiled tentatively.

"Welcome!" an old woman's voice called out from somewhere deeper in. "Be with you in a moment!"

Gaara followed him in, dropping his sand gourd next to his shoes and nodding along. "Hundred Spice is the best in all the countries," he recited.

Boisterous laughter followed them, and its source – Gai, in full Youth mode – ducked in. "As it happens, I know this shop well also! It's a favorite stop on my training route!"

"Yosh! Gai-sensei took us here last year!" Lee added, entering at his beloved teacher's heels. Following him somewhat reluctantly, Neji made a face indicating horrible memories.

Bringing up in the rear, Tenten and Kankurou entered together. "I still think short-handled kunai just aren't worth it," Kankurou said, in a non-sequitor, following on some other conversation. "Normal kunai are much more versatile, and you can compensate when you throw…"

"With your puppet too?" Tenten asked, looking genuinely impressed. "I agree, actually. I still bring some, on certain missions."

"The space and weight, though…"

"A sealing scroll…"

At the very tail end of the party, Baki sighed quietly to himself. "Youth…" he muttered, apparently not even sure what to feel. Attracted by the noise of nine new visitors, three familiar faces – Rokusuke, Hachidai and Sangurou – peered into the front of shop from deeper within. Raising his voice, Baki announced, "I'm going to settled things with our clients."

"Okay!" Naruto called out as the jounin headed away, after the three miners.

The other seven shinobi plus one settled around a small table, Naruto and Gaara with Ranmaru between them, Gai and Lee together in a wall of green, Tenten and Kankurou still talking about weapons, and finally Neji alone, arms crossed and scowl firmly in place.

"Oh my! What a group!" the owner exclaimed, appearing from the kitchen. The old woman wiped her hands on her apron as she regarded them one by one. "Gai-sensei with his students again, I see," she chuckled. "But what about these other boys? I don't know them, and their crests are different too..."

"We're from Suna!" Naruto said cheerfully. "We just ran into each other on our missions!"

The old woman peered at him through her thick glasses before her eyes widened. "Oh me! Oh my! It's Naruto-chan! It's definitely little Naruto-chan, all grown up! It's been, my, seven years now! Do you remember me – Sanshou-obaasan?"

Naruto laughed. "Yeah! A bit… I remember eating your special black curry and crying for hours because I couldn't feel my mouth anymore!"

Granny Sanshou laughed, while Neji silently shuddered. "Well, I'll make a new special today! My son Karashi just came up with it! But, your mother…"

"She passed away a while back," Naruto said simply. "But the one who really needs your curry is Ranmaru here! His body is a little weak, and Mom always said it made her feel a million times better, so it should make him perk right up!"

"Coming right up!" the old woman called over her shoulder as she hurried back to the kitchen.

The shinobi settled down for a while, all occupied with the partners on their side of the table, until Neji suddenly turned to glare at Naruto. "Do you really think I won't notice your staring?" he demanded.

Naruto stuck out his tongue sheepishly. "Caught, huh?"

"What do you want?" Neji grumbled.

"Well, I've never met a Ryuuga before…" Naruto began.

Neji twitched. "Hyuuga!" he corrected.

"Yeah, so I was wondering about your eyes. Can you really see through solid things?" Naruto's expression turned mischievous. "Can you see when our curry's gonna be ready? I'm really getting hungry."

Neji scowled but activated his Byakugan. "The old woman and her assistant are still cooking," he relayed unhappily. "They're adding spices… and spices… and…." He trailed off, his face paling into an unhealthy blue cast.

Kankurou snickered, while Tenten just shook her head in exasperation.

However, when the curry arrived, both of them closely mirrored Neji's expression. The curry was bright red in color and very dangerous looking. "This reminds me of something… In nature, aren't the most poisonous animals brightly colored?" Kankurou wondered, twitching a little as he stared down at his place.

"It… looks even scarier than last year's black curry," Tenten added quietly.

"_Itadakimasu!_" Naruto, Lee and Gai chorused. Each took a huge spoonful, and each promptly turned a bright red to match the curry. While Lee and Gai shouted their praise, Naruto just scrambled for a glass of water and, after chugging it down, collapsed face first on the table.

"It's Life curry because afterward, you're grateful to still be alive," he mumbled to himself. Next to him, Ranmaru and Gaara carefully took smaller bites off their own plates. Gaara's flat expression didn't change, not really, but he stiffened obviously and somehow managed to show his disgust clearly.

At the familiar sight, Naruto grinned. 'Don't tell me Gaara's actually a picky eater,' he thought humorously.

Between them, Ranmaru chewed thoughtfully. "This is… delicious!" he exclaimed, reaching out for more energetically. "This is the best food I've ever had! I wish I could eat this everyday!"

"Everyday, huh?" Naruto repeated, his grin a little strained.

Instead of eating, Kankurou surreptitiously scooped up a spoonful of curry sauce alone and dribbled it into a small vial. "I think I can use this," he muttered to himself. "It's practically a biological weapon already." Beside and across from him, Tenten and Neji simply pushed their food around their plates without tasting it.

"We should get going!" Tenten declared suddenly. "I mean, we're already late coming back from our mission. We should get back and report."

Looking almost relieved, Neji nodded. "Tenten is right. We need to return quickly."

Lee and Gai matched determined stares and nodded to each other in tandem before grabbing their plates and shoveling down the rest of their curry.

"How Youthful, my dear students!" Gai exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Alright, then! We will make it to Konoha before sunrise tomorrow, or we will all run a hundred laps around our beautiful village as punishment!"

"Eh? Tomorrow morning? But we'll have to run all night, and even then…" Tenten trailed off, glancing down at her still full plate. "R-right! Let's go!"

With varying degrees of enthusiasm, the Konoha genin filed out, quickly making their goodbyes. Gai brought up behind them, but he paused in the doorway, looking back at the Suna-nins. His gaze locked with Baki's as the other jounin emerged from the back of the shop.

"I look forward to seeing you and your team again," Gai said seriously, his eyes sliding over the genin and lingering for a moment on Naruto. "Konoha is hosting the next Chuunin Exam, you know." He grinned suddenly. "We'll show you some great places in our beautiful, wonderful home!"

With one last scary sparkle, the Beautiful Green Beast was gone as well.

Turning away, Baki sat down at the table with his students and said, "I've settled things with our clients, so we can depart as well."

"They're never hiring us again, right?" Kankurou said cynically, but with a tinge of humor, pushing away his plate.

Completely ignoring him, Baki continued, "It would be best if we addressed any questions you may have now, especially anything pertaining to what you'll put in your mission reports…"

"Don't worry, sensei!" Naruto said brightly. "This mission went great, even if we had a few snags! We totally beat the Kurosuki Family and freed Katabami Kinzan!"

Kankurou snorted. "He means what we're going to say about Shukaku coming out…"

Looking surprised, Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What's there to say? Gaara fell asleep for a bit, and then he woke up. Everyone's fine anyway." He shrugged dismissively.

"…And about those Konoha shinobi…"

"They happened to be here, and they beat up some of the Family thugs, just because they felt like it. They were pretty nice, and then they left."

'The Council is going to love this,' Baki thought. "Then, the only matter is Ranmaru's situation…" he began.

Before he could continue, Naruto pinned him with a strange, flat stare, making Baki stop short in confusion. "Ranmaru?" Naruto repeated. At the sound of his name from Naruto, the little boy looked up from his curry, diverting Naruto's attention. Switching moods abruptly, Naruto brightened. "What's right! What do you want to do now, Ranmaru?"

His brows furrowing faintly in thought, Ranmaru slowly pulled the spoon from his mouth and said, "I'd like more of this curry, if that's okay…"

"That's fine! Sanshou-obaasan is really nice, so I'm sure she won't mind you staying here! She's always looking for more people to teach the fine art of making curry," Naruto said, drawing a surprised look from Ranmaru. That hadn't been what he meant, but he didn't protest.

"A curry cook, huh?" Ranmaru murmured to himself.

Baki wanted to protest. 'This boy is a useful resource, with an incredible ability,' he thought. 'To even deceive the Byakugan…' But something brought him short as he stared at his students, Gaara, Ranmaru and Naruto sitting squished together but oddly happy. 'A weapon like Gaara,' Baki mused. 'Naruto… doesn't trust us with that boy's wellbeing – with reason,' he admitted to himself, a little bitterly. 'After all, we handled Gaara so well…'

"Well, if that's how it's going to be, we should at least give you a clean bill of health before we go," Kankurou drawled, standing slowly. "Dunno how I ended up the team medic here… but come on."

"Is something wrong with me?" Ranmaru wondered as Kankurou picked him up.

"Nah. But the stuff I mixed for your fever was pretty on-the-fly. Better safe than sorry, you know? I guess I should make you some vitamins while I'm at it…" Kankurou muttered, looking put out as always, but grudgingly cooperating.

"Great! I'll go talk to Sanshou-obaasan!" Naruto chirped, bouncing to his feet.

Left alone with Gaara, Baki sighed. "Should we never mention him or just say he died too?" he wondered. 'Honestly, Naruto…'

/~/~

As the Suna team prepared to depart, old lady Sanshou, her son and Ranmaru stood in front of the curry shop to say goodbye. The three miners appeared as well, ready to set out for their own home.

"Thank you," Hachidai said, his long face showing just a trace of unease. "We'll be going back to the village now. There's a lot of work left to be done before things go back to normal."

"I'm sure you'll be fine! You can do it!" Naruto replied, smiling. "And if anything comes up, you can count on us to help!"

The miners, even the sour Rokusuke, smiled hesitantly. "Yes… we'll definitely ask for you," Sangorou agreed, scratching at his stubble.

"I'll do my best too," Ranmaru said. He was standing on his own feet, if only by leaning heavily on old lady Sanshou. "Please come to see me again, okay? I'll definitely walk on my own to greet you."

Giving him a grin and a thumbs-up, Naruto turned and began to walk away, his team following. They picked up speed as the curry shop disappeared from sight, soon running quickly across the country side.

"I'm glad that's finally over," Kankurou grumbled. "My poor Karasu is totally busted. I'm gonna be in so much trouble…"

"What's the big deal?" Naruto wondered.

Kankurou scowled fiercely. "Of course it's a big deal! I was so lucky to be given a high-class puppet like Karasu – a one-of-a-kind creation of a master!"

"Huh," Naruto made a surprised sound. "I always thought you made it, the way you were tinkering with it…"

"It takes way more skill – and better materials too – that I've got to make a whole new puppet," Kankurou admitted. A deep gloom settled over him. "And that just makes it worse… I actually made a lot of special mods to Karasu, and there's no way that'll be looked on kindly either… Those old geezers'll chew me out real good for my 'impudence.'"

"Just fix it yourself," Naruto suggested. "And don't tell them you ever broke it. Jeez, you fuss so much! It's not like you're the only one in trouble," he complained. "Even though Gaara and I looked for ages, we couldn't find my knife! I don't even know what to do. It's not like I can ask for another one, either. I got it from the Academy, and it was made of some rare special metal too…"

"Tch! It's not like you even knew how to use it," Kankurou complained right back, equally unsympathetic. "You always acted like it was kunai or something. Why bother with a weapon you don't even train for?"

Looking thoughtful, Naruto didn't snipe back. "…I guess so," he admitted slowly. "I mean, my real weapon is wind, which is better than any knife or sword. And I've got some pretty cool ideas for new jutsu…" He grinned a little. 'That's right. Why do I need to worry about weapons when I've got a blade far finer? A wind sword, a wind shuriken, and… back then, I really… I definitely… _flew_…'

Kankurou eyed him oddly as Naruto smiled with a distant, dreamy look in his eye. "Well, I've got some ideas of my own," the puppeteer muttered to himself. 'Toki had some pretty cool gadgets – like the way she flew. I could use that. Karasu, flying on black wings. That just sounds _right_. And that Konoha girl is right. Storage seals are something to look into…'

The two of them seemed lost in their own worlds, snickering creepily under their breath. Baki shook his head. "At least they're motivated to improve," he grumbled. "Maybe I really will nominate them for exams…"

"I'll have to train as well," Gaara said thoughtfully. At Baki's surprised look, he added, "Just using Funeral won't be proper, on allies in a tournament."

"Funeral?" Baki repeated. 'Does he mean…?'

Gaara nodded. "I've decided, I'll call my techniques Desert Coffin and Desert Funeral... But having funerals for allies would cause problems." He seemed almost annoyed by the idea.

"Yes," Baki agreed. "That it would." 'Progress, it's progress,' he assured himself. 'Gaara going out of his way _not_ to kill someone is definitely progress.'

Naruto laughed. "You'll definitely be Gaara of the Desert now!" he said brightly. "I guess it really does sound cool! I'll have to work twice as hard to make sure everyone remembers Uzumaki-no-Naruto too!"

"Wait, didn't it used to be different?" Kankurou wondered.

"Don't worry, don't worry!" Naruto insisted. "I won't take any compromises on this! Everyone will remember that name, no matter what!

"My legend is only just beginning!"

/~/~

END=START

/~/~

_Epilogue_

They arrived back in Suna at sunset. The village looked beautiful, dyed in red and vermilion, as they made their way out of the entrance pass and into the town proper.

"It's good to be home," Naruto said suddenly, stopping to take in the view. Next to him, Gaara nodded thoughtfully. Naruto glanced at him, their eyes meeting. "I guess… this place has some bad memories for you…"

"But it has good ones as well," Gaara said calmly.

Naruto smiled, an oddly soft expression, pained and relieved at the same time. "Yeah," he agreed. "There _are_ good memories here. And we'll make lots more great ones, tomorrow and the day after." His expression became serious as he focused on the administration building's grand dome. "We can't ever erase the bad memories, but we can outweigh them. We'll make so many good ones, the bad times won't matter anymore."

"I'll be looking forward to it," Gaara said. Not quite a smile, but a softening in his eyes, and he turned to walk away, giving Baki a respectful nod.

Naruto watched him go with a smile of his own. 'Mom, I know you hated this place, and I think… I can see why. This place isn't without its shadows. But it's my home. I'll make it into a wonderful place that even you would love. I swear it.'

Watching Naruto walk away as well, Baki sighed quietly. 'I'll get his report tomorrow, I suppose,' he thought.

"Well, then, I'm going to turn in as well," Kankurou said. Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a vial and held it out to Baki. "Here, it's a sample of that kid's blood. I got it when I looked him over. It's not much, but he seemed pretty much normal otherwise anyway. See you tomorrow, sensei." With a wave, Kankurou left as well.

Turning the vial over in his hand, Baki noted the symbols on it. 'Preservation seals,' he thought, 'to keep a sample fresh for a few days. Good foresight on his part. At this rate, Kankurou might be ready to make chuunin after all.'

"Not a bad mission after all," Baki said to himself, pocketing the vial. 'A sample for the research department, and I've got Kurosuki Raiga's remains sealed in a scroll, though there wasn't much left. And my students… seem to be shaping up pretty well…'

He tensed suddenly, and a moment later another shinobi shunshined next to him, bowing respectfully. "Sir, the council and Lord Kazekage request your presence immediately," the other man relayed.

"Immediately? My report is hardly that urgent," Baki said calmly.

The messenger hesitated for a moment. "It would not appear to be about your team's mission, sir," he said carefully. "The Kazekage wished to be informed the moment your team returned, sir."

"Something new came up while we were gone?" Baki wondered. "Very well, let's go."

In a swirl of sand, both shinobi disappeared.

/~/~

/~/~

Afterword:

Season one, kanryou~!

**What now?**

A: Season Two will be the invasion, with a catchy title like, yanno, New Wind Nation: Invasion. It'll be a new story. But until then, I'll probably sporadically write in-between drabbles, posted in this story. Feel free to make requests – in Chapter 4. The one digit review number there bothers me.

Unfortunately, my interest in Naruto has run out again, so it'll be a while before I get going on that. Ah, well.

/~/~

/~/~


End file.
